Esma faces uphill battle to emerge as European SEC
In an interview with Investment Officer, Esma chair Verena Ross outlined her vision and the significant challenges ahead as the regulatory body aims to become Europe’s equivalent to the US SEC.
Waste as the price of innovation
There’s an ongoing debate about whether artificial intelligence is in a bubble. The more important question is whether that’s necessarily a bad thing.
Over 1 billion euro in Robeco’s active ETFs
About a year after launching its first active ETFs, Robeco has attracted more than 1 billion euro in assets. Four of the six listed index trackers now hold over 100 million euro each—a key threshold for institutional investors.
Major banks bet on infrastructure as a building block in private markets
Within private markets, interest in infrastructure is growing. Both ING and Rabobank are positioning this investment category as a “building block” in their private markets offerings. Goldman expects a larger asset allocation from institutional investors in the coming years.
The new Cold War runs on artificial intelligence
Anna Rosenberg of Amundi Investment Institute says the same forces that once drove nuclear and space spending now fuel an expensive, open-ended struggle for technological supremacy.
ING aims to double its wealth operations
ING wants to double its activities in private banking, wealth management, and investments by offering these services globally. In recent months, the bank introduced private banking in Poland.
Chart of the week: what’s expensive?
Now that Trump has been taking things a bit easier over the past few weeks, stock valuations have become the topic dominating the markets. Market commentators are tripping over each other to declare how wildly overvalued the big tech names supposedly are. It’s a lot of parroting, really, while the actual numbers tell a more nuanced story.
Morningstar: Blackrock and Neuberger Berman in USD high yield bonds
The US high yield bond market returned 7.4 percent for 2025 through October (per Morningstar’s US High Yield Bond Total Return USD Index), outpacing the leveraged loans market’s 4.9 percent return (Morningstar LSTA US Leverages Loans Total returns USD Index). This year’s underperformance stands out, due to several high-profile blowups such as Tricolor and First Brands.
Eltif 2.0: the honeymoon is over as fundraising stalls
Across Europe, asset managers are learning that selling Eltif funds to retail and wholesale investors is far harder than early optimism suggested.
ESMA warns on high costs in fund distribution
Almost half of European fund investors’ costs go to distribution, according to a new report by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).