Asset Manager

European insurers face stricter guidance on AI governance after EIOPA issued its landmark Opinion, with major implications for investment managers’ due diligence and compliance strategies, writes Dorothee Ciolino at Norton Rose Fulbright.

Tokenized funds will overtake traditional structures within five years, says Keyrock CEO Kevin de Patoul, citing cheaper, transparent, inevitable on-chain vehicles.

The Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates from 4.25–4.50 percent to 4.00–4.25 percent and will lower rates further at the remaining meetings of the FOMC, the Fed’s policy body. This comes even as financial conditions have already improved and there is still an extraordinary amount of liquidity on the sidelines.

ING Luxembourg has signed a referral agreement with Post Luxembourg to provide an alternative for its 4,500 business banking clients as the Dutch lender accelerates its exit from services for local SMEs, self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs.

Degroof Petercam sees many new opportunities for international cooperation following its takeover by the French Indosuez, said CEO Sylvie Huret in an interview with Investment Officer. Not only within Indosuez, but in the wider ecosystem of parent group Crédit Agricole, which also includes fund giant Amundi.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a multibillion-dollar deal last week with the US for the construction of a series of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Although the so-called “nuclear renaissance” is also taking shape in Europe according to investors, they see American companies as the main beneficiaries.

UK inflation is far too high, and the policy rate is far too low. That might sound odd, but if you look at the regime we’ve been in for more than seventeen years now, the statement makes perfect sense. Let me explain why.

Eurozone corporate bonds delivered a return of 4.2 percent over the past twelve months (as measured by the Morningstar Eurozone Corporate Bond Index), while their US counterpart, the Morningstar US Corporate Bond Index, lost 1.8 percent in euro terms. The currency effect was crucial here.

This week’s overview of people transfers and appointments includes updates from banking association ABBL, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, and Deloitte Luxembourg.

With inflation still running close to 3 percent, investors warn the Federal Reserve may be cutting into a “stagflation-lite” backdrop: weaker growth alongside stubborn price pressures.