Investment Officer

European Depositary Bank, part of the Apex group, has appointed managing directors Jean-François Thils, and Robert Steele (photo) as members of the executive management board.

David Rhydderch steps down from the EDB board and has been appointed as global head of financial products and managing director, Emea for the wider Apex Group.

Not Davos, but Tokyo has the markets’ attention this week. The Bank of Japan earlier today defied market expectations by keeping its Yield Curve Control interest rate policy unchanged, at least for now. Markets question however how long the BoJ can sustain this now that global government bond yields are rising. Japan could be sitting on Pandora’s box.

How asset managers vote on corporate resolutions every year determines the future of our planet, but the world’s very biggest investment corporations continue to block progress on environmental and social issues. 

Researchers from non-profit organisation Share Action, in the latest edition of the Voting Matters report released this week, outlined how 68 of the world’s largest asset managers voted on 252 ESG-related shareholder resolutions. 

Joseph Pinto will join M&G Asset Management in March as its new chief executive officer, the international savings and investment firm said.

Pinto joins from Natixis Investment Managers and succeeds Jack Daniels who announced his retirement last summer following 21 years of service. At Natixis Pinto served as head of distribution and investment solutions for Europe, Asia and Latin America and as global chief operating Officer.

Discussing and agreeing a single and coordinated EU “industry policy” has often been difficult and controversial in Brussels. Yet, all of a sudden, the “i-word” is back in fashion; the European Union should even make it the reason for its existence, according to newly reported internal documents. Investors however have few fond memories of plans like these. 

Regulatory uncertainty that the industry is contending with as a result of the complex range of interacting legal requirements, Efama, the EU’s main trade body for asset management, said. Luxembourg’s Alfi argued that “the element of intent” needs to be considered when making judgements on greenwashing.

The oh-so-popular post-war 60/40 portfolio is worn out - passé. So say many asset allocation strategists. The alternative is 60/40/20: equities, bonds and alternatives. Nay, says Zoltan Pozsar, strategist at Credit Suisse. The future is the 20/40/20/20 portfolio, consisting of cash, equities, bonds and commodities. He explains why in his formidable analysis War and Peace.

A lack of financial literacy and unfamiliarity with digital technologies are key drivers of financial vulnerability and exclusion, Europe’s three financial sector supervisors said in a collective report.

Access to digital channels and digital infrastructure has become a prerequisite for consumers to make use of financial services, the report said, adding that a lack of digital financial skills also makes consumers more prone to be targets of digital scams and fraud.

Unlike the Federal Reserve itself, investors believe the “Fed pivot” moment is approaching rapidly. Forward swaps point to a peak in interest rates of up to five per cent. Some market experts however are “uncomfortable” with the view and don’t exclude a level of six percent of the US benchmark.

Manfred Dietrich has been appointed as funds and investment management partner at the Luxembourg office of global law firm Maples. He brings more than twenty years of experience in the investment funds, asset management and regulatory industries. 

Dietrich joined Maples in November from Norton Rose Fulbright. Maples said his appointment ”follows a period of exceptional growth at the firm and is in direct response to increasing demands for Luxembourg legal services from new and existing international clients.”