IO asset manager survey: structural risks are rising, but risk appetite holds up

For the second time, the editorial team of Investment Officer conducted a year-end survey among large asset managers operating in Europe. The aim was to assess their outlooks for 2026 based on a standardized set of proprietary questions. The common thread is that risks have become structural, without leading to a flight from risk assets.

Chart of the week: few US jobs, how so?

There was eager anticipation for a new US labor market report. And not only because the flow of macro data from the United States is still lagging as a result of the shutdown. The US labor market is what can still obscure the real reason why rates were cut by another quarter point. But that argument does not hold either.

Fed and politics

In financial markets, 2026 will not only be a year of economic normalization, but also a test of the institutional fabric of US monetary policy. Renewed political polarization and the approaching expiration of central banker Jerome Powell’s term are creating a rare convergence of uncertainty for the period ahead.