Investment Officer

Management fee revenues by European asset managers climbed by 10% during the second half of 2020 thanks to an increase in assets under management and stronger fund inflows, according to research by Moody’s Investor Service.

ING has merged the bank’s investment offices in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. ‘The aim of the operation is to become stronger together,’ says Bob Homan, who heads up the Investment Office which now employs 50 people.

The rationale behind the merger is that the investment offices of the country organisations actually do the same work. ‘They focus on research, asset allocation, selection of instruments and communication,’ says Homan in an interview with Investment Officer. The merger did not cost any jobs.

Fund platform Allfunds has announced its intention to list its shares on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange “in the coming weeks”. The announcement comes just days after it became public that Allfunds is planning to launch its first 12 mandate solutions on its fund platform.

Amundi has entered into exclusive negotiations with Société Générale for the acquisition of Lyxor for a total cash consideration of €825m, or €755m excluding excess capital, Amundi announced on its website on Wednesday.

Elon Musk’s announcement by tweet that Tesla’s customers will soon be able pay for their car in bitcoin has triggered a discussion about the viability of the digital currency between investment banks and asset managers. Should bitcoin be included in investment portfolios or shouldn’t it?

The number of cross-border funds registered globally recorded its slowest growth since 2009 last year. At the same time, however, Luxembourg strengthened its position as leading global fund hub according to the PwC Luxembourg Global Fund Distribution survey.

Wall Street is greenwashing finance. It has turned sustainable investment into little more than a PR stunt, and this undermines the fight against the global climate problem, according to Tariq Fancy, a former BlackRock chief investment officer.

iShares has won the 2021 Morningstar Luxembourg Award for Best Fund House Overall. It’s the first time a passive asset manager wins the overall award.

According to Morningstar analyst Ronald van Genderen, the award means iShares has simply produced the best risk-adjusted returns after fees across the equity and fixed-income range in recent years.

Under the partnership, through its digital platform Moonfare will provide access to private market strategies for Fidelity’s institutional and wholesale clients. Fidelity says it is responding to ‘increasing demand from its investors for alternative investment strategies.

Assets invested in funds domiciled in Luxemburg have exceeded the €5 trillion mark for the first time. At the end of January, asset reached a record €5050 billion according to figures published by the CSSF.