Investment Officer

The European Central Bank now is convinced that it will raise its benchmark eurozone interest rate at its 21 July monetary policy meeting and said it expects that its interest rates will no longer be negative by September. Its latest statement also indicates that the ECB is hedging its bets for upcoming medium-term policy moves in order to to add to its flexibility to act. 

As yields increase, several fund houses have recently bought European government bonds, following the ‘huge sell-off’ in this market. In the meantime, commodities should ease the pain of high inflation.

Accompanying Luxembourg’s finance minister Yuriko Backes on her official visit to Stockholm, Luxembourg’s financial community this week sought to strengthen its financial ties with Sweden, considered a “natural partner” for the Grand Duchy. Backes also discussed plans to support the reconstruction of Ukraine with her Swedish counterpart.

Travelling back to Luxembourg, Backes said on Twitter that her visit had been “very productive.” Backes was accompanied by a Luxembourg for Finance delegation and several representatives of Luxembourg’s financial services sector.

Oddo BHF Asset Management said it has strengthened its presence in Benelux with the recruitment of André Koeken as sales manager. He is now in charge of developing the clientele of independent financial advisors and insurance companies in the Benelux. He reports to Dominic Nys, sales manager for Benelux.

Private markets are no longer the exclusive preserve of large institutional investors. A round of questions to Dutch asset managers point to an influx of families and high-net-worth individuals - or HNWIs - as private equity becomes more widely available as an asset class. Their increased appetite for alternative investments is also noted in Luxembourg.

DNCA Finance, a Paris-based boutique investment firm that is part of Natixis group, said on Friday it has hired Jo Switten and Nicolas Dubuisson, who both until recently worked for Carmignac, to strengthen its sales team for the Belgian and Luxembourg markets. 

The extent of investor confusion about the outlook for financial markets is clear from the latest Big Money poll by US investment platform Barron’s: a quarter of participants are bullish, a quarter are bearish and half do not know. 

​Michael Burch has been appointed as CEO of ING in Luxembourg from 1 July 2022. He will succeed Colette Dierick, who has decided to leave ING after 35 years. 

Shareholders of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Wednesday appointed Alain Kinch as chairman of is board of directors. Kinsch succeed Frank Wagener, who served as LuxSE’s chair since 2011 and who is retiring.

Kinsch serves on the board of several national and international companies as an independent director and is vice-president of the Luxembourg State Council. He is known for his earlier work at EY, where he was the country managing partner of EY Luxembourg from 2009 to 2020. 

Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank on Thursday said that it has named Chris Allen as Group CEO. Allen, who spent the past 15 years moving up the ranks at HSBC, brings over three decades of financial services experience to the role and will take up the position on 1 July. His appointment is subject to regulatory approval.