Investment Officer Luxembourg

Global financial markets are entering a riskier phase where some corporate earnings could disappoint while opportunities remain in China, emerging markets and investment grade bonds, Europe’s biggest asset manager Amundi said.

In their February note to investors, Amundi’s group chief investment officer Vincent Mortier and deputy group CIO Matteo Germano spoke of a subdued earnings and economic backdrop that calls for a cautious, well-diversified approach. 

Communication technology continues its rapid development, but it’s inevitably affected by the world that it serves, so it must contend with concerns about sustainability and the impact of the economic situation, as well as the legal context. The emergence of ChatGPT as a new form of artificial intelligence might promise much, but it may misuse others’ content, Deloitte argues in its outlook for Telecoms, Media and Technology, or TMT.

Thursday’s 50 basis point rate hike by the European Central Bank came as no surprise. The ECB’s deposit rate now stands at 2.5 percent. The ECB reiterated that it intends to deliver a similar rate hike at its next meeting in March.

The ECB’s hike came one day after a 25 point increase announced by the Federal Reserve, and coincided with a 50 point raise by the Bank of England.

Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Privée, or UBP, has developed a partnership with New York-based Brigade Capital Management to expand its offering of credit-focused investment products. A new fund, U Access (IRL) Brigade Credit Long Short Ucits, launched in September and has close to 100 millions dollars under management.

Economists at PGIM Fixed Income have suggested converting Ukraine’s dire debt obligations into new debt. These so-called “freedom bonds” could be backed by frozen Russian assets, according to the bond house. Such a proposal would receive great interest in Luxembourg, home to about one third of Russian assets frozen in the EU.

The year 2022 will go down in the books as a pitch-black year for investors. A cocktail of worrying developments, including a spike in inflation, tightening monetary policy, the economic implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an energy crisis and recession fears, resulted in a historically bad investment year in which both equity and bond investors suffered hefty losses.

A major shift in the Dutch retail investor market. Netherlands’ largest fund house Robeco decides to focus entirely on institutional and wholesale investors and, with pain in its heart, says goodbye to retail investors. With the takeover, Evi van Lanschot suddenly comes of age.

In one fell swoop, Evi, the retail arm of investment bank Van Lanschot Kempen, gains 125,000 new clients. That is a six-fold increase in the client base. Assets under management jump from 1.3 billion euros to six billion.