LuxSE, UN Women join forces to advance gender finance
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Friday said it has stepped up its efforts to advance gender equality in finance by cooperating with UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The cooperation was announced during a signing ceremony at the exchange in the presence of HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Luxembourg minister of finance Yuriko Backes and Luxembourg minister of the economy and development, Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Franz Fayot.
Sabine Caudron to succeed Colmant at Degroof Petercam
The management board of Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam has put forward Sabine Caudron as head of private banking and member of its executive committee. She is due to replace former CEO Bruno Colmant, whose mandate expires after seven years.
Caudron’s appointment is due to be formalised at the bank’s general shareholders meeting on 24 May. The bank has also named two other female executives to its management committees.
After solid 2021, Degroof sees Russia 'undermine markets'
Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam, which has a significant presence in Luxembourg, has warned of ongoing uncertainty in financial markets as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which it said “undermines financial markets”.
The bank has announced a strong increase in net profits for 2021 as revenue growth outpaced rising operating costs. The bank also announced that former CEO and head of private banking Bruno Colmant is stepping down after seven years. Sabine Caudron will take over from Colmant as head of private banking.
Savers to lose ‘hundreds of billions’, Betterfinance warns
A Brussels-based group standing up for European users of financial services has warned that European savers and investors in long-term savings and pension products face a particularly sharp erosion of purchasing power as a result of rising prices.
Speaking about “financial repression”, Betterfinance, one of two EU-level consumer finance NGOs that regularly interact with the European Commission, said European savers are set to lose “hundreds of billions of euro” in purchasing power in 2022 alone.
Fed in biggest rate hike in 22 years, switches from QE to QT
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its main policy rate by 50 basis points, the largest increase since 2000. The steep hike reflects the current state of the US economy, where inflation surged to 8.5 percent in March with unemployment relatively low at 3.6 percent.
Clifford Chance beefs up team, Alfi hires from PWC
In Luxembourg, international law firm Clifford Chance this week announced the promotion of two of its counsel and the appointment of nine senior associates, while industry group Alfi has hired a new head of communications from PWC Luxembourg.
Net Ucits outflows rose more than five-fold in February
Led by a steep drop in bond investments, European Ucits investment funds saw net outflows rise more than five-fold in February when compared to a month earlier due to worries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and over rising inflation, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association, Efama.
Funds defined as Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, or Ucits, recorded net outflows of 43 billion euro in February, compared to net outflows of EUR 8 billion in January 2022.
ESAs propose ‘simpler, user-friendly’ investment info
The European Union’s top financial supervisory bodies have told the European Commission to move towards a clearer and more effective framework for informing retail clients about costs and potential risks their run with investments, and told it to better integrate sustainability objectives into requirements for informing consumers.
As everyone flees, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway steps in
It was one of the worst stock market quarters in a long time, but Warren Buffett did not stare like a rabbit in the headlights. He seized the correction to buy more than 41 billion dollars worth of promising and punished shares. Result: his investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway outperformed the S&P 500.
Amundi assets top 2 tln euro, buoyed by ‘robust’ inflows
Although it noted a “sharp slowdown” since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest asset manager Amundi saw its assets under management top 2,000 billion euro during the first quarter, buoyed by the integration of Lyxor and persistent inflows from retail clients.
Amundi, part of the Paris-based Credit Agricole group, said on Friday that its assets under management rose 15 percent to 2,021 billion euro in the first quarter when compared to the same period a year earlier.