Sector

Although its overall market share contracted slightly, Luxembourg last year held on to its number one spot among Europe’s top 10 investment hubs for both Ucits and Alternative Investment Funds, with a market share of 26.8 percent, compared to 27 percent that was reported for the previous year, according to the latest annual reported released by the Association for the Luxembourg Fund Industry, or Alfi. Ireland’s share of the pie increased to 18.6 percent last year from 18 percent reported for 2020. 

The ECB has decided to raise interest rates for the first time in eleven years in an attempt to tackle persistent inflation. Asset purchases will also be halted from 1 July. The decision made in Amsterdam on Thursday marks the end of a long-standing period of monetary easing and negative interest rate policy.

The Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform, known as SDI AOP, offers the opportunity to standardise SDG impact measurement and develop a broad benchmark for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The platform can become a global standard for SDG investing,” said Manuela Sperandeo, Head of Sustainable Indexing for EMEA at BlackRock, in conversation with Investment Officer. 

A changing of the guard at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, known as LuxSE, and strong results increases across the board were the theme at Wednesday’s Luxembourg Stock Exchange annual press conference.

Growth in funds registered as Reserved Alternative Investment Funds (RAIFs) in Luxembourg has slowed in February and March, according to a data analysis by Investment Officer Luxembourg.

As expected, 2022 looks set to be a turbulent year for fixed income assets. High-yield bonds shared in the blows dealt in the first quarter. 

Not surprisingly, Berkshire Hathaway has risen 16 percent this year and has outperformed the S&P 500 by 23 percent over the past 12 months. Pricing power is an important criteria for Mr Buffett and Mr Munger in their selection process. Their company in essence is one large investment portfolio, and one that is resilient to increasing inflation.

“It is not five minutes to twelve, but one minute to twelve,” said Detlef van Vuuren, one of the Dutch scientists who collaborated on the latest report by the UN climate agency, the IPCC. 

According to the report, presented on Monday, countries have to invest three to six times more than currently agreed in measures to reduce greenhouse gases. If that does not happen, the climate goals will be far out of reach. That is this week’s alarming message from the United Nations. 

Sanctions imposed on companies and individuals in Russia and Belarus have triggered concerns that crypto-currencies offer an escape route to circumvent them. Insiders argued that these concerns are unjustified, although crypto sceptics argue that “we should not be naive”.

Fierce competition has emerged in the changing data landscape for investment funds, and Luxembourg is the finding itself at the centre of attention. The Frankfurt and Luxembourg stock exchanges now confront each other face to face in the grand duchy, while the Paris bourse has thrown its towel into the ring and is back on the sidelines.