Investment Officer France

At the World Pensions Conference in London, experts pointed to Australia and Canada as models Europe can no longer ignore when it comes to investing in private markets.

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.

For decades, we have embraced the rise of passive investing (hammock investing) as the ultimate democratization of the financial markets. The gospel of low costs, broad diversification, and market returns seemed infallible. But while passive assets under management have climbed to astronomical levels, a wave of critical academic research reveals a troubling paradox: the instrument designed to help investors may be structurally distorting the market and ultimately diminishing their wealth.

AI is going to change the world, but which companies will benefit most from that trend? Investors who put money into trends and themes such as AI look for a solid benchmark to determine the purity of their investments. The goal is high purity. That does not always work out.

Financial markets are under pressure. Not only stocks but also other asset classes are mostly moving lower. Are we dealing with unique factors, or is there a single overarching culprit?

Dan Ariely has devoted his career to understanding irrational behavior. According to the Duke University professor of psychology and behavioral economics, ESG investors are the perfect test group. They focus, he says, on what is easy to measure rather than on what actually matters for returns.