Investment Officer Luxembourg

The world economy is slowing down at a faster pace than expected as a result of the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said on Monday. Further interest rate increases are needed in most major economies to halt inflation, it said.

The idea that sustainable funds will be more expensive than conventional funds due to the extra cost of sustainability research is not necessarily true. Both active and passive funds turn out to be cheaper. Sustainable funds are classified under European regulations into Article 8 and Article 9 funds. Within the latter category, we rank the cheapest options within global large-cap equity funds.

We’re finishing a productive week at Investment Officer Luxembourg in terms of news stories, with surprisingly strong and growing interest from international readers.

While industry’s investment losses are beginning to show, the strong performance from recent years makes institutional investors reluctant to change their investment course. “Not an easy situation,” says the chief of Europe’s biggest pension body.

After consistently recording fat pluses over the past decade, the euro area’s trade balance has sunk deep into the red. For years, international trade contributed substantially to economic growth in the euro area. But: “Das war einmal”.

A historic surge in expensive energy imports now that gas supplies from Russia have been completely cut off results in a heavily negative trade balance. As a result, trade is now dragging down growth and pushing up the already sky-high risk of recession further.

This IO Talks Luxembourg podcast episode with Corrine Lamesch, chair of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), sheds light on the growing popularity of alternative investments in Luxembourg, addresses the complexity of ESG and sustainable finance regulation, and hears about the role of the grand duchy as a global distribution centre for financial products.