Falling inflation is ‘only silver lining’ for market outlooks
May saw a 6.1 percent increase in consumer prices in the EU compared to the previous year, the lowest level since February 2022 and slightly lower than economists’ predicted 6.3 percent. In the United States, inflation has now dropped below 5 percent, the lowest level in two years.
CSSF: Luxembourg fund assets decline 0.19% in April
Luxembourg investment funds experienced a slight decrease in net assets during April, reflecting market fluctuations and uncertainties. The total net assets amounted to 5,139 billion euro as of 30 April 2023, down 0.19 percent from the previous month’s figure, according to financial supervisor CSSF.
Compared to April last year, the volume of net assets has decreased by 6.17% percent.
FundRock to service Partners Capital’s Master C fund
FundRock Management Company, a unit of Apex Group, has been appointed by Partners Capital to provide ManCo services for their flagship fund. FundRock will provide ManCo services for Partners Capital’s flagship fund, the Master Portfolio C fund, following their support during the fund’s re-domiciliation to Luxembourg last October.
Concerns arise over short-term vision of Anglo-Saxon managers
European investors, mostly hailing from the Netherlands, find themselves increasingly exasperated as several Anglo-Saxon asset managers prioritise financial returns over the critical energy transition within oil and gas companies. This growing trend became starkly evident during recent shareholder meetings held by energy giants BP in late April and Shell in late May.
Broadridge’s Pandiri named Group President at Apex
Apex Group said it has appointed Samir Pandiri to the newly created role of Group President and Member of the Executive Committee, to support and drive the business’ sustained growth.
ChatGPT is better at predicting stock price movements
Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a significant correlation between ChatGPT’s assessment of headlines, and the subsequent daily returns of the stocks studied.
The researchers used ChatGPT to indicate whether a particular headline contained good, bad or irrelevant news for companies’ stock prices. The study shows a positive correlation between ChatGPT’s sentiment analysis, and subsequent daily stock market returns.
Reinhard steps down as CEO at Universal Investment
Michael Reinhard has decided to step down as chief executive officer at Frankfurt-headquartered Universal Investment Group, a leading management company in Luxembourg. Until a successor is appointed he will be replaced by David Blumer, who joined UI as non-executive chair last year.
Fed’s ‘pause mode’ could take longer than market expects
The market is expecting a 75 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve after a six-month pause. According to Invesco, the likelihood of that happening is much lower than the market thinks. This is good news for emerging markets, said Wim Vandenhoeck, senior portfolio manager for EMD and global bonds.
Alternative investments now take 1/3 of Luxembourg pie
Alternative investment funds last year took a bigger slice of the Luxembourg pie, a new study said on Wednesday. In terms of assets under management, alternative funds accounted for more than a third of the total last year, compared to a quarter a year earlier.
The data stems from the latest edition of the Observatory of Management Companies, published annually by PwC Luxembourg.
Raif registrations down 20% for year to date vs 2022
Fund management companies in Luxembourg registered some 22 new reserved alternative investment funds (Raifs) in April 2023, according to publicly-released data updated on 15 May. This development brings the total for this year so far to 128. Considering only the first four months of the year, the total number was down 20 per cent from last year during the same period.