Investment Officer

Dublin-based third-party management company Waystone on Tuesday said that it has closed its acquisition of Irish fund management services firm KB Associates in a transaction that makes it Ireland’s largest management company for Ucits funds.

As a result of the transaction, Waystone said it will welcome on board 90 new team members and will now support European management company assets exceeding 300 billion dollars. 

Morningstar and Investment Officer Luxembourg invite you to join us online on Thursday 1 December 2022 at 15 CET for the “Good Practices in ESG Reporting” interactive online debate. 

A panel of sustainable finance experts from financial institutions and authorities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg will debate good practices in ESG reporting for investors and asset managers. 
 

Despite ominous forecasts, the German stock market is also participating unhindered in the rally that most markets saw in October. The DAX index rose 8.4 per cent last month.  This is striking, as virtually all indicators point to a very bleak outlook for the eurozone’s largest economy. Is the German economic model faltering?

In order to merge two Italian telecom firms, Luxembourg-based infrastructure investor Marguerite said on Thursday that it has restructured its holdings in Italian fibre and data activities through an agreement with Asterion Industrial Partners, an investment firm focused on mid-market European infrastructure 

The European Central Bank as expected announced a 75-basis-point interest rate hike on Thursday. It is the third consecutive increase this year. The move came as no surprise to markets.

The central bank updated its wording of the forward guidance, indicating that further tightening is to be expected, but will be done on a meeting-by-meeting basis. At the press conference, following the board meeting, President Lagarde elaborated on the time lag between monetary policy decisions and the subsequent effects on economic data. 

The EU’s top category of sustainable investment funds - impact funds as defined under SFDR Article 9 - saw inflows double in the third quarter compared to the second, while funds that are considered mostly sustainable, or Article 8 ESG funds, continued to bleed, research insights by Morningstar show. The analysis also shows that more than 380 funds were reclassified during the third quarter.

Dutch investment bank Kempen Capital Management has reclassified three of its sustainability funds to “light green” from “dark green/most sustainable” ahead of increasingly stringent requirements that will take effect from 2023 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as the SFDR.

The European Union has reached a political agreement that brings the relaunch of European long-term investment funds, a type of investment vehicle known as Eltif, one step closer. The European marketing passports for Eltifs are regarded as a major business opportunity for Luxembourg firms. 

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Tuesday launched a new, simplified post-trade settlement model that no longer requires a clearing membership. The exchange has partnered with Italy’s BFF Bank to provide the new service.

The new model simplifies the post-trade process of Luxembourg’s bourse, also known as LuxSE. The change “allows for a more streamlined and efficient settlement of securities transactions made on a channel encompassing 21,500 tradable instruments”, it said.

Driven by new technologies, consumer expectations and risks, banks are increasingly forced to think and act differently, The boldness with which they embrace change in the time ahead will determine which scenario unfolds between now and 2035. “Massive changes are on the horizon.”