Asset Manager

Aegon N.V. has named Shawn C.D. Johnson as the new Chief Executive Officer of Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM). Johnson will assume his role on 23 September, succeeding Bas NieuweWeme, who is stepping down to pursue other career opportunities. NieuweWeme will remain with the company as an advisor until 1 December to ensure a smooth transition.

The outages and disruptions impacting the financial sector this month serve as stern reminders about vulnerabilities linked to tech reliance. Regulations such as DORA, however, show a certain maturity to pre-empt such problems, experts say.

If you want to generate returns through stocks, focus on companies that achieve a higher return on invested capital than it costs to raise that capital. This is the essence of value creation.

Private equity, long reserved for the wealthy, could soon be available to everyday investors through ETFs. But experts are raising concerns about whether this innovation is truly viable and beneficial.

Banque Havilland, once a discreet player in the European private banking sector, is now caught in a severe regulatory storm. This case has also reignited old tensions related to the 2009 sale of Icelandic bank Kaupthing’s Luxembourg unit to the Rowland family, the financiers behind Banque Havilland.

Cellar Investment Partners is introducing a new investment fund that focuses on the wine market. The fund was registered in Luxembourg last month.

Japan, once a global leader in technology and innovation during the 1980s and 1990s, has faced relative stagnation in recent decades. Nevertheless, the country still offers untapped potential for growth investors, according to Donald Farquharson, Japan specialist at Baillie Gifford.

Marc Meyers and Sebastiaan Hooghiemstra at Loyens & Loeff highlight the key changes in the draft regulatory technical standards for Eltifs, and see the latest proposal by the European Commission as a “reasonably workable” match for Luxembourg’s market practice.

Government bonds have long enjoyed a special place in investors’ portfolios. Often seen as a cornerstone of stability, their appeal as a safe haven is rarely questioned.

If Donald Trump is re-elected as President, he plans to have more control over U.S. monetary policy, not just relying on Federal Reserve officials who follow his direction. This idea has raised concerns among experts, including Sylvester Eijffinger, a former advisor to the Fed, who calls it “a disastrous plan.”