Amid pulp shortage, forest funds promote sustainability
Investing in trees might at first not seem the quickest route to wealth. Yet timber investments increasingly leverage their clear connection to sustainability and their long-term real asset investment characteristics. Timber investments, although not suited for everyone, can serve as a hedge against inflation, and as a commodity that can benefit from strong economic growth.
EU, UK KIDs diverge as Brexit becomes Priips factor
A case study of how EU and UK financial sector regulations will diverge is in the shifting rules around the Key Investor Document (KID), part of the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) regulation. There will be no big-bang moment, but the details are about to begin to change gradually. And influential voices are calling for more divergence.
Chart of the week: Homes unaffordable?
Mortgage rates and home prices are skyrocketing worldwide. That is not good news for housing affordability.
The graph below shows the relationship between the one-year change in US 30-year mortgage rates and the one-year change in the ‘Housing Affordability Index’. Roughly speaking, the change in mortgage rates explains about 40 percent of the change in the affordability of a home for sale in the United States.
PGIM Investments: Fog Of War Grips Markets
Commodities offer a hedge against inflation and stocks should recover, according to PGIM Quant Solutions. Explore their full outlook for a period of unusual upheaval and uncertainty.
LuxSE, UN Women join forces to advance gender finance
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Friday said it has stepped up its efforts to advance gender equality in finance by cooperating with UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The cooperation was announced during a signing ceremony at the exchange in the presence of HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Luxembourg minister of finance Yuriko Backes and Luxembourg minister of the economy and development, Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Franz Fayot.
Sabine Caudron to succeed Colmant at Degroof Petercam
The management board of Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam has put forward Sabine Caudron as head of private banking and member of its executive committee. She is due to replace former CEO Bruno Colmant, whose mandate expires after seven years.
Caudron’s appointment is due to be formalised at the bank’s general shareholders meeting on 24 May. The bank has also named two other female executives to its management committees.
After solid 2021, Degroof sees Russia 'undermine markets'
Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam, which has a significant presence in Luxembourg, has warned of ongoing uncertainty in financial markets as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which it said “undermines financial markets”.
The bank has announced a strong increase in net profits for 2021 as revenue growth outpaced rising operating costs. The bank also announced that former CEO and head of private banking Bruno Colmant is stepping down after seven years. Sabine Caudron will take over from Colmant as head of private banking.
In Flux: Europe’s own SEC
Luxembourg loves the new new thing, especially when it comes to financial legislation. The big question is: what should be next? The Grand Duchy may have found the answer already.
In the late 1980s, the Grand Duchy successfully tapped into global investment fund markets by becoming the first EU member state to offer Ucits-passports to international investment funds. Today, three decades later, more than a quarter of Europe’s fund assets has its home here. The country has even become a leading global funds hub.
Top-5 defence sector: leaders exposed to moral risk
Investing in weapons and the military industry is controversial for many investors. For example, since 2011, investing in companies that produce, sell or distribute cluster munitions or crucial components thereof has been prohibited by law in 110 countries, including the Benelux.
It is important to note however that the legal prohibition does not apply to participation in investment institutions and indices in which the producers of cluster munitions or companies involved represent less than 5 percent of the value of that investment institution or index.
AXA IM: Metaverse, what is it and what investment opportunities does it present?
From playing computer games set in virtual worlds, to building a digital model of a water treatment plant and using augmented reality to identify problems, the metaverse is truly changing the way we live and work.