Investing

Individual autocrats in Russia and China as well as at a number of top global technology firms pose a severe risk to geopolitical and economic stability in our world this year, the Eurasia Group says in its report on top risks for 2023. This global context will lead to volatility in emerging markets this year.

Uncertainty regarding monetary policy, inflation, and the pace at which the climate crisis is worsening are known factors that will determine the shape of investment charts in 2023. On top of that, the risk exists that an unexpected event will leave its mark. Investment Officer’s experts and columnists are clear in their expectations for this year. “The list of tough questions for 2023 is long.”

Infrastructure has become one of the topics we pay frequent attention to. It’s remarkable how often it comes up. But of you think about it, the global need for infrastructure investment, the attention paid by the political classes, the importance of the asset for the pension manager have combined to make this once dusty-seeming topic seem of the highest importance. The fact that it has the allure of being inflation-resistant has brought additional attention in these troubled times.

Luxembourg’s international status as a hub for alternative investments and private equity this year was reinforced as institutional investors sought stability as global equity and bond markets were taking a beating by surging inflation and rising interest rates.

Commodities will be the best-performing asset class next year, achieving returns of more than 40 per cent, analysts at Goldman Sachs said in their recently published Commodity Outlook for 2023, ‘An underinvested supercycle’. The first three months will be “bumpy”, but then scarcity will ensure rising prices. 

A fortnight ago, Dutch private bank InsingerGilissen sold a pack of high yield bonds to increase its holdings in investment grade bonds. The bank does not rule out that it will do so again in early 2023. “If you expect risks, there will be a storm in the high yield segment as well,” chief investment officer Gerwin Wijnia told InvestmentOfficer.nl.

Cube Infrastructure Managers takes pride in its a progressive approach to infrastructure investing. The firm has raised some four billion euro since 2007. Its portfolio has featured Eurotunnel and various green transition investments. Today it actively seeks out companies in order to improve their environmental footprint.

The number of private equity portfolios in the secondary market is increasing as both fund managers and investors in private equity funds seek liquidity opportunities. 

In its private markets outlook, BlackRock focuses on private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. “Given the long lead time between the decision to sell a private equity asset and the sale, we expect more of these opportunities in 2023.”

One might have thought Luxembourg’s real estate market was doing well compared to other European cities, but for a long time, exact comparative numbers weren’t available. That’s all changed with the release of a new property index covering Luxembourg, the result of an 18-month long labour-intensive and expensive project.

Swiss-based real estate investment manager Empira has sold a 16,000 square metre property project in Vienna for an undisclosed amount. The property had been held through a Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund.

The Zug, Switzerland based firm had only bought the property two years ago. In a statement, Empira spoke about a “successful sale at attractive terms… exactly in line with the investment approach of this product”.