Investment Officer Netherlands

What could hardly be considered a surprise anymore still turned into one. The annual revision of US job growth came in even bigger than expected. As anticipated, it triggered a flood of reactions—though often the wrong ones.

German retail investors put nearly all equity fund inflows into exchange-traded funds in the first half of the year, cementing the country’s role as Europe’s largest ETF market.

In a world where climate risk is becoming an increasingly prominent factor, I argue that the psychological perception of this risk has a significant and measurable impact on asset prices.

It has been an eventful year so far for emerging market debt. Investors have enjoyed strong returns in US dollars, with the JPM GBI-EM Global Diversified index gaining 11.4 percent through July. India’s weighting in the benchmark has increased, but not all fund managers are equally enthusiastic about the country’s prospects.

The fee structure of an investment fund is more than a contract: it is a barometer of trust between fund manager and investor. Nothing frustrates a client more than paying a performance fee in a year with a negative total return, even if the manager has outperformed the benchmark.

Against a wave of skepticism, Schroders is one of the few large firms openly championing continuation funds. Nils Rode, chief investment officer at Schroders Capital, argues the criticism is overblown. The funds, he says, typically offer about 25 percent faster liquidity, more predictable returns, and fees that are roughly half those of traditional buyouts.

ABN Amro is set to personalize wealth management for private banking clients. Starting in October, clients with managed portfolios will allocate 10 percent of their portfolio to at least three self-selected themes. To achieve this, the bank invests in structured products, ensuring that a client cannot lose more than 5 percent of their investment per theme.

Far fewer deals, much less fresh capital: private equity managers have had a particularly hard time in recent months. A shake-out seems likely, specialists believe. The sector has run into its limits.