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.
Soft skills take precedent in recruitment of young talent
Young people today are looking for a modern, balanced, purposeful, and flexible work environment, say heads of HR at Luxembourg private banks. Employers, on the other hand, are focusing on whether candidates bring transferable skills.
AssetCare: the right (AI) tool for the right job
Finance is full of repetitive work, often done manually. Reconciliation, reporting, and various calculations to evaluate assets are part of daily life. But in recent years, the AI storm has arrived.
How Europe wants to protect itself from dollarization
With euro stablecoins and a digital euro, Europe wants to counter the looming dollarization of the European economy. In consumer payments, the sovereignty of the euro is already under pressure, the European Central Bank warns.
The price of war
Within one hundred hours, American and Israeli forces struck nearly 2.000 targets in Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei and dozens of senior officials were killed. It is the largest American military operation in the Middle East since 2003. The initial market reaction was remarkably muted, but the oil price tells a different story.
Noise in the factors
I recently came across an interesting study about the Fama-French factors, those widely used risk factors that underpin how we evaluate investment performance. The findings should matter to every (institutional) investor.
Chart of the week: is this our umpteenth last chance?
Even before stock market trading in March had really gotten underway, we already knew this month would end up in the history books. You also have to be particularly creative now to write a column that does not touch on what is happening in the Middle East. So here is the expected topic, but with a twist.
Morningstar: Invesco vs Cartesio in EUR cautious allocation
Investors continue to shun EUR cautious allocation funds as fixed income regained popularity.
Transfers: DLA Piper, RBC Bluebay, HSFK, JP Morgan AM, Anthos, Blackrock
This week’s people update includes news from law firms DLA Piper and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, as well as appointments at RBC Bluebay, JP Morgan Asset Management, Anthos and Blackrock.
Investors reassess strategic asset allocation as negative correlation returns
With the restoration of the negative correlation between equities and bonds, the structure of strategic asset allocation is once again under debate among asset owners and asset managers. Was the shift away from the traditional 60/40 portfolio towards a permanent allocation to private markets a lasting course correction — or merely a temporary response to an extraordinary period? Investment Officer spoke to four leading investment professionals.