LuxFlag labels 5 new funds in Q2, bringing total to 326
Luxembourg’s financial sector labelling agency LuxFlag granted its ESG and sustainability labels to five new investment products in the second quarter of 2023. This brings the total number of labelled investment and insurance products to 326, with a combined asset under management value of 166 billion euro.
Nordea AM : Investors unite to confront the menace of methane
If the world has any chance of slowing the excessive rate of global warming, urgent action must be undertaken to cut methane emissions.
PGIM Investments: Assessing the aftermath of aggressive rate hikes
Katharine Neiss, PGIM Fixed Income’s Chief European Economist, shares her insights on the effectiveness of the rate hikes, the economic outlook, and expectations for a new bond bull market.
The kickback fee is back
Since 2014, the kickback fee, also known as distribution fee, has been abolished in the Netherlands. Prior to this, asset managers would continuously pay a fee to distributors whenever investments were made in the asset manager’s funds.
‘Valuations of AI stocks remain reasonable’
After a substantial rally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stocks are still reasonably valued, according to Johannes Jacobi, an AI specialist at Allianz Global Investors. In a conversation with Investment Officer Belgium, Jacobi emphasized that from an investment perspective, the valuations remain favorable, while other sectors are yet to catch up.
DWS’ Schmidt: More defensive portfolio stance is prudent
High inflation is far from tamed, and profit margins are expected to deteriorate. Therefore, it is prudent to adopt a more defensive stance in portfolios, according to Christoph Schmidt, senior portfolio manager of DWS Concept Kaldemorgen, in a with Investment Officer.
Transfers: Arendt’s Druinaud becomes consultant
Arendt Services SA’s former secretary general and management committee member Marie Druinaud has left the law firm to start her own working venture as a consultant focusing in compliance and liquidation matters and as an independent director, interim manager and liquidator.
EU divergence on fund fines poses challenge for Esma
Financial supervision in the European Union has encountered a pressing challenge - a notable disparity in the approaches taken by national financial supervisors when it comes to sanctioning investment funds. As the watchdog of the EU’s financial markets, the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has identified this growing divide and is now pushing for measures to foster greater convergence among member states.
OneLife fined €580,000 after CAA finds AML-CFT failures
Luxembourg life assurance and wealth management company OneLife has been fined 580,000 euro by the country’s insurance supervisor Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) after “certain failures” were detected in the firm’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) systems.
Natixis survey shows ‘we aren’t through the woods yet’
In the wake of a sturdy first half characterised by ebbing inflation, stellar tech-driven stock market performance, and soaring bond yields, economists and investment strategists predict a reduced recession risk for the latter half of 2023, a survey by Natixis Investment Managers shows. “Recession is still a real possibility, but most expect a softer landing,” said Mabrouk Chetouane, head of global market strategy at Natixis IM.