Opinion

A targeted educational intervention can break the free dividends fallacy among retail investors. The result: a lasting behavioral change that reveals how fragile—yet how malleable—the demand for dividends truly is.

Private markets no longer run in straight lines. Intermediaries are merging, data is flowing, and Luxembourg may quietly become the nerve center of the new system.

It was fall break in October, which meant plenty of travelers crossed the Atlantic to visit New York. One of the perks: shopping in the Big Apple had become much cheaper than at the start of the year.

It took a little longer than expected, but the delayed US inflation figure for October came in just slightly below expectations. That means that, by the time this column is published, the Federal Reserve will have cut interest rates by another quarter point, and—unless something strange happens—another quarter point cut will follow in December.

The bulk of US economic growth this year can be attributed to data centers. But what will all that infrastructure be worth once chips arrive that are a hundred times more energy-efficient than today’s models?

The title of this column is the Chinese word for “mirage” or “illusion.” Hot air, in other words. Just like the impressive Chinese growth figure that was proudly announced this week.

Last week, the French government survived two motions of no confidence, mainly by promising not to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 for the time being. For S&P, however, this was reason enough to downgrade France’s credit rating from AA- to A+. It may seem like a minor detail, but for managers of fixed income funds that require at least AA-rated investments, it created an immediate problem. Did all those French government bonds suddenly need to be dumped?

Asian investors are turning to Luxembourg as their preferred gateway to global private markets. The flows are quiet but transformative.

The word is out! Fed Chair Jay Powell is considering stopping the reduction of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. If you think that balance sheet has slimmed down significantly after three years of quantitative tightening, you’re mistaken. Moreover, Powell is putting himself in an impossible position once again by lowering interest rates at the same time.

A groundbreaking study shows that “superstar cities” systematically lag in total returns — a crucial insight for valuing REITs (real estate investment trusts). The explanation lies in lower rental yields and surprisingly low risk, which fundamentally changes how future cash flows should be assessed.