Asset Servicing

Buy-and-hold and active management remain the preferred investment strategies among family offices in the Benelux. More than half of their portfolios are allocated to private equity and listed equities.

According to Jan Saalfrank and Lous Vervuurt at Pinsent Masons, the Commission’s long-awaited SFDR reform introduces sharper definitions, stronger disclosures and stricter greenwashing safeguards, a step set to reverberate across Europe’s sustainable finance industry and Luxembourg.

Milleis Banque Privée anticipates a scenario for 2026 similar to 2025: moderate global growth and disinflation. In a still volatile environment, diversification remains the key theme. With this in mind, the bank plans to reduce the share of cash investments in favor of listed and unlisted bonds, and to diversify its equity portfolios.

This week’s roundup highlights senior hires and partner promotions across Luxembourg and Europe, including new roles at Belasko, Innpact, Deutsche Bank, Schroders and Loyens & Loeff.

With the pullback of the dollar and the decline in (short-term) interest rates this year, emerging markets have finally come back into favor. Well below the radar, however, frontier markets have already enjoyed growing popularity among a select audience for some time.

Europe’s fund market is on the brink of a major reshuffle. Under SFDR 2.0, the European Commission’s revised sustainability rulebook, non-sustainable Article 6 funds are set to become the dominant category at the expense of the most popular sustainability category, Article 8.

European equities are getting more interesting, say asset management and private banking experts at Quintet, Pictet and Artemis Investment Management.

The ECB has given stablecoins a place in its Financial Stability Review. In a report containing the term stability assessment, you would expect the focus to be mainly on risks, but even then the ECB’s approach is striking. The unapologetic desire to favor the traditional banking sector is more than telling.

The classic 60/40 investment strategy is still alive and well, though its merits have been a matter of debate in recent years.

Amundi on Thursday announced that it has launched its first tokenized share class, marking a step into blockchain-enabled fund distribution for Europe’s largest asset manager.