Investment Officer

Investment funds that invest in health and wellness already existed, but DNCA Finance is now launching a thematic equity fund that invests in the sports sector. DNCA managers Boris Radondy and Simon de Franssu spoke to Investment Officer Belgium. “There are 340 listed companies in the world whose activities are closely related to sport. They represent a market capitalisation of $3,000 billion, which has increased sixfold in the last decade.”’

After two rounds of voting three candidates remained in the race on Monday night for the position of director-general of the European Stability Mechanism. Luxembourg’s candidate Pierre Gramegna, a former finance minister, will have to win the support from southern European countries if he is to succeed Klaus Regling in October. A decision now is expected at the 16 June Eurogroup meeting in the Grand Duchy.

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.