Investment Officer Netherlands

In times of uncertainty, it is even more crucial to invest in the human connection that is at the heart of private banking, said Stéphane Pardini, CEO of Wealth Management at Quintet Luxembourg, in an interview with Investment Officer.

From the 17th floor of the Rembrandt Tower in Amsterdam, Blackrock has a clear view of a market where scrutiny of its climate strategy is intensifying. Pension funds, policymakers, and activist groups are raising questions about the role of the world’s largest asset manager in the energy transition.

With no end to the war with Iran in sight, talk of a recession is resurfacing. Yet other indicators suggest that the bull market is far from over.

Geopolitical conflict and renewed inflationary concerns sapped the wind from high-yield sails.

European dependence on fossil fuels poses a risk to price stability. That is according to Frank Elderson, the Dutch member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB). Energy shocks, which seem to occur with increasing frequency, are making it ever more difficult for the ECB to keep inflation at 2 percent per year.

As geopolitical tensions rise and instability in the Middle East persists, small-cap equities have shown notable resilience. So-called “domestic champions”—companies with dominant positions in their domestic markets—are benefiting from deglobalisation and shorter supply chains, and appear less volatile than their reputation suggests.

Systematic investment strategies are benefiting from the growing “everyday” use of AI, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT. Partly for this reason, these strategies can now more easily find their way into the wealth segment, observed Adam Riley of Blackrock: “When people use the technology themselves, they better understand its power.”