Chart of the week: better a raging optimist or a permabear than an index hugger
A new year, a new round. Every year at the beginning of January, I once again look with amazement and confusion at the equity market outlooks from the major financial institutions. And especially at the projected returns, which are invariably clustered right around the long-term average. Because one thing you can be almost certain of is that those projections will not materialize.
Morningstar: Robeco versus MFS in global equities
While the average fund in the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity Morningstar category eked out a 5.8 percent gain in 2025, it was hardly an easy year for investors. Tariff turmoil, geopolitical tensions, and demanding valuations weighed on sentiment.
Try to be a well-rounded ‘Swiss Army knife,’ says young private banker
After studying politics, Jean-Paul Daragjati set his sights on finance through a hands-on master’s in wealth management at the University of Luxembourg. Now a private banker at Edmond de Rothschild, he says the secret to success is to never stop learning.
Transfers: Jewell named CIO fundamental equities at Blackrock
This week’s international overview of appointments and transfers in the industry.
Demand for compliance talent a 2026 priority for Luxembourg recruiters
With the start of a new year, the professionals making the wheels of Luxembourg’s funds sector spin may be considering changing jobs. Recruitment experts share their perspectives on the state of the industry and the trends shaping it.
On Wall Street, one type of colleague remains ‘problematic’: the woman
EEOC interim chair Andrea Lucas has urged white men who feel discriminated against at work to file a federal complaint. “Are you a white man who has been disadvantaged at work because of your race or gender? Then you may be able to get money back,” Lucas said in a video on X. Act quickly, is the message.
Protectionist reflexes still stand in the way of Europe’s champions
The failed partnership between Italy’s Generali and France’s BPCE is more than a collapsed deal in European asset management. It exposes how challenging it remains for Europe to build financial scale once a project becomes truly cross-border, and how protectionist reflexes, legal uncertainty and unfinished integration can combine to smother a transaction.
What remains of ‘Who cares wins’? ESG after 25 years in perspective
What began as a tool for measuring risks evolved into a normative framework, only to return under political pressure to its core: the G. After 25 years, ESG has come of age, but not without scars.
The continuation of the semiconductor supercycle
The first trading day of 2026 left no room for doubt. While many investors were still recovering from the champagne, chip stocks surged worldwide and set new records.
White House reins in proxy firms, curbing shareholder power
The US government is moving to scale back the influence of proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis, casting the firms as ‘foreign-owned political actors’.