Investment Officer Belgium

Equities are off to a volatile start in 2026. While initial optimism around the AI capex boom continued to support global equity markets, a rotation into cyclical sectors, value, and non-US stocks helped broaden the rally.

Beleggers die hun portefeuilles willen diversifiëren en minder afhankelijk maken van gangbare aandelenindices, wenden zich steeds vaker tot private markten. Maar via hun publieke posities hebben zij al aanzienlijke blootstelling aan diezelfde markten. De extra kosten die met private fondsen gemoeid zijn, leveren structureel geen beter rendement op.

Asset owners representing 3.7 trillion dollars in capital sent a clear message to their asset managers at the end of January: stay committed to net zero. Demand for climate strategies among institutional investors in Europe remains firmly intact.

The unrest in the Middle East has affected Emerging Market Debt (EMD) through rising rates and higher risk premiums. There is no indication, for now, of a structural deterioration in credit risk.

The fact that some bond issuances are now oversubscribed by as much as ten times illustrates how sharply market sentiment has shifted. After more than a decade of interest rates close to zero, bonds in the eurozone are once again offering returns, around 3 to 4 percent for investment grade.

The conflict between the US and Iran is hitting the core of the Federal Reserve’s rate strategy. The one factor that was keeping rate cuts alive, falling housing costs, is now under pressure. Fed governor Stephen Miran’s bet that housing costs would keep falling fast enough to justify lower Fed rates is now being tested in the worst possible way.

The war against Iran has now lasted a month, and the consequences are becoming visible at a rapid pace. The conflict began as an American-Israeli operation targeting Iran’s nuclear program and the regime in Tehran. But while the United States and Israel are dropping bombs, Europe is absorbing the heaviest economic blows. The result of decades of failed European energy policy, strategic dependency, and a lack of geopolitical power.

A sweeping new EU regulation for ESG rating providers is set to reshape a market that Morningstar Sustainalytics has helped build, consolidating a fragmented industry and raising the compliance bar significantly.

Now that the US SEC has placed most digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, outside its oversight, chair Paul Atkins said the “brake on innovation” that the market watchdog had become under Gary Gensler is disappearing.