Investing

As pressure mounts on investors to allocate larger portions of their portfolios to alternatives, Stuart Dunbar, a partner and director at Edinburgh-based investment manager Baillie Gifford, stresses the need for careful consideration. He highlights the limited supply of high-quality opportunities as a critical factor. “We can’t just rush into the alternatives.”

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has successfully raised over 200 million dollars with its inaugural European Long Term Investment Fund, Private Markets Eltif 2023. The fund offers individual investors direct access to investments in the private market and is managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, a leading global investment firm overseeing over 450 billion dollars in alternative assets.

The number of new reserved alternative investment funds registered in Luxembourg during a single month in June showed its first rebound since January. Issuance levels though are well below their historic averages. Economic and geopolitical issues get the blame, along with difficulties in raising institutional investment money. Still, faith in the vehicle remains strong, with private equity specialists expecting a further recovery in Raif registrations.

Globally active Accelex has set up in Luxembourg to sell its next-generation software as a service solution aimed exclusively at private markets because of the country’s leadership in private assets. The UK-headquartered company sees itself playing a key role in the maturation of the private assets market, including through the increased availability of such funds to retail investor clientele.

Fewer new reserved alternative investment funds are being registered in Luxembourg this year as investment managers are more cautious and VC fundraising has declined. Investor appetite appears reduced but has not disappeared. Dry powder is said to remain available among institutional investors in the alternatives market. 

I’m a big fan of the Bank of America Global Fund Manager Survey. Firstly, because it pertains to the positioning and perspectives of real investors managing significant amounts of money. And secondly, because Bank of America tries to translate the responses given in the survey into signals and even investment decisions—something often overlooked by many “storytellers.”

The artificial intelligence revolution is in full swing, and Nvidia’s recent financial performance is a testament to this transformative era. For investors as well as businesses and policymakers, the dawn of generative AI has opened the doors to a new era.

Luxembourg is hoping its long, friendly relationship with China can help keep the superpower on a path towards more investment-friendliness instead of sable-rattling with the US. Levels of investment in China by Luxembourg-domiciled investment funds dipped during that country’s difficult Covid times. Some institutional investors are staying away due to darkening US-China relations. Hopes for a resurgence depend on peace.

The negative correlation between bonds and stocks is no longer a certainty due to structurally higher inflation expected in the coming decade.

May saw a 6.1 percent increase in consumer prices in the EU compared to the previous year, the lowest level since February 2022 and slightly lower than economists’ predicted 6.3 percent. In the United States, inflation has now dropped below 5 percent, the lowest level in two years.