Your Investment Soundtrack: The Companies Behind BL Equities Japan
When it comes to investing, there’s never a shortage of noise—constant market updates, countless opinions, and promises of quick profits. It’s easy to lose sight of what investing truly means: owning real businesses that create lasting value.
Dividends, a compass to navigate through uncertain times
For centuries, dividends were the measure of a stock's success. Yet the past four decades saw dividend investing fade into the background as cheap credit and rising valuations rewarded speculation over cash returns.
Investors manage just fine with less research on smallcaps
European regulator Esma is advocating a revision of research rules, expected to take effect next year. Allowing research and trade execution to be paid for jointly again could create new opportunities for smallcap coverage.
Investors favor EM equities over those from the US in 2026
A majority of large asset managers are most optimistic about equities for 2026, particularly those from emerging markets. US equities remain a strategic cornerstone, while Europe and Japan play a smaller but growing role in geographic diversification.
Mandates lose ground to funds
Assets managed through discretionary mandates have expanded more slowly in Europa over the past ten years than assets held in investment funds. That is the conclusion of Efama, the European fund industry association, in its latest sector review.
Private credit’s real risk rests with the managers
In private credit, institutional investors face their biggest risk not in the asset class itself, but in selecting the general partner. Interviews with private market insiders suggest the real danger is a lack of scrutiny of managers.
Resilience in financial markets the surprise of 2025
Many fund houses mark Liberation Day—the day president Trump announced sharply higher US trade tariffs—as the standout moment of 2025, according to the Investment Officer Outlook Survey 2026. But what surprised asset managers even more was how quickly markets carried on in the months that followed, as if nothing had happened.
Simplification push by ESMA risks raising costs before relief
The European Union’s push to simplify financial reporting faces a complex reality, with industry leaders warning that streamlining requirements will likely hike costs before delivering relief.
The 2026 portfolio
The traditional 60/40 portfolio is dead, long live the 60/40 portfolio.
New generation of billionaires shifts to external management
Europe is consolidating its position as the global hub for inherited wealth, but the way that capital is managed is undergoing a radical modernization.