Investment Officer Netherlands

A group of Belgian investors returned to Omaha this weekend for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, but for the first time Warren Buffett was not on stage. The 95-year-old still attended, yet the tone of the “Woodstock of capitalism” has begun to shift.

Corporate governance is one of those topics investors prefer to push into the background as long as markets are rising. Yet the quality of corporate governance is one of the most decisive factors for the long-term valuation of an equity market.

The fees private equity managers earn on successful deals are no longer just a matter of compensation. For the pension funds and insurers that bankroll the industry, the way those payouts are calculated has become a test of governance, and an increasingly important influence on where capital flows next.

Stel je voor: je baas kan precies zien wanneer je achter je bureau zit. Hoe laat je aankomt, hoe laat je weggaat, wanneer je luncht. Klinkt als een nachtmerrie uit een dystopische roman? Voor driehonderd aandelenanalisten was dit tussen 2017 en 2021 gewoon realiteit.

Terwijl private banken en vermogensbeheerders volop inzetten op AI voor hun eigen processen, verandert er aan de andere kant van de tafel ook iets: een klant die met zes pagina’s aan door AI-gegenereerd advies aanschuift. ‘Het is nú zaak voor beheerders en banken om hun adviseurs héél AI-savvy te maken.’

Active asset allocation is a double-edged sword. Executed well, tactical shifts can generate alpha and differentiate from the benchmark. The trade-off is greater complexity, with more moving parts and higher demands on skill and discipline. Investors should also assess the costs of tactical allocation.

Every May, a ritual unfolds in Omaha, Nebraska that I have never quite understood. Thousands of investors fly to a shareholder meeting in the middle of the American Midwest to hear a wise old man explain that smart investors can probably find better uses for their money than flying to shareholder meetings in the middle of the American Midwest.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorganChase, has warned that global bond markets are heading toward a crisis unless policymakers act before markets force their hand, pointing to a compounding mix of persistent government deficits, geopolitical instability and inflation pressures that sovereign debt has yet to fully price in.

The Iran war has broken the trend toward greater convergence between yields on European government bonds. Yields rose particularly sharply in Italy and the United Kingdom, while countries such as the Netherlands and Spain managed to limit the damage somewhat.

Oil prices will have to climb much higher to stabilise global markets as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz deepen, JPMorgan said. For import-dependent Europe, the risk of slower growth and higher inflation is rising by the day.