Max Severijns

The SEC’s push for transparency in private markets was dealt a severe blow by a U.S. court ruling last week.

As the US presidential election nears, the bond market braces for a potential resurgence of the “bond vigilantes.” Investment Officer spoke to the man who coined the term, Edward Yardeni.

Amid a surge in global wealth, Luxembourg is bolstering its efforts to retain its edge over Ireland as the premier European hub for American asset distribution. The country’s recent strategic push, highlighted by high-profile events in Boston and New York, aims to capitalise on the surge in alternative financing strategies.

From Tuesday, US trades of stocks, bonds and ETFs will need to be settled within a single day, not two, presenting significant challenges to European funds dealing in US securities.

Speaking at an ALFI event in New York, the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission, SEC, and Luxembourg financial supervisor CSSF have jointly voiced significant concerns about “increasingly complicated fee structures” in the fund industry, warning that these practices may be obscuring the true costs for investors. 

Brendan Ballou’s book “Plunder” exposes how private equity firms, like Carlyle, harm businesses and evade legal responsibility, despite promising high returns. In this interview, Ballou discusses the alarming frequency and impact of these practices.

Publicly listed companies with the highest ESG scores and substantial investments from ESG funds often pay the least in taxes. In many cases, they pay even less than required by law, and according to Professor Gideon Parchomovsky, institutional investors play a role in this.

As Wall Street’s financial giants approach their annual shareholder meetings, the calls for restraint and closer alignment of executive pay with company performance and shareholder interests signal a potentially contentious voting season.

Steffen Pauls led KKR in Germany for over eleven years before becoming CEO of Moonfare. In 2015, he left the American investment company with a new goal: making private markets accessible to individuals. He understands all too well this target group sometimes has ethical concerns regarding this sector.

The returns generated by private credit funds seem to primarily benefit fund managers, not investors. According to a recent study published by three economists from the American National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) there is no extra return left for investors after accounting for costs and risks.

The study “Risk-Adjusting The Returns To Private Debt Funds” analyzes cash flow data from 532 private credit funds established between 1992 and 2015. The researchers compared incoming capital to distributions to investors.