Investment Officer Luxembourg

ING wants to double its activities in private banking, wealth management, and investments by offering these services globally. In recent months, the bank introduced private banking in Poland.

Germany should move its trillions of euros in savings out of banks and put them to work for its Mittelstand through private markets. That was the message from Philipp Hildebrand, vice chairman of Blackrock’s Global Executive Committee, on Thursday during the presentation of a report on the European private markets sector.

Now that Trump has been taking things a bit easier over the past few weeks, stock valuations have become the topic dominating the markets. Market commentators are tripping over each other to declare how wildly overvalued the big tech names supposedly are. It’s a lot of parroting, really, while the actual numbers tell a more nuanced story.

The US high yield bond market returned 7.4 percent for 2025 through October (per Morningstar’s US High Yield Bond Total Return USD Index), outpacing the leveraged loans market’s 4.9 percent return (Morningstar LSTA US Leverages Loans Total returns USD Index). This year’s underperformance stands out, due to several high-profile blowups such as Tricolor and First Brands.

Across Europe, asset managers are learning that selling Eltif funds to retail and wholesale investors is far harder than early optimism suggested.

Family offices are increasing their exposure to illiquid investments, even though they often lack the expertise to properly assess private market opportunities.

As AI transforms fund administration, the true differentiator will not be process but people. The private-markets industry can learn from hospitality: excellence is how you make people feel.