Investment Officer Luxembourg

While browsing through all the predictions for next year, I noticed that hardly anyone dares to put China on the map. Until I recently saw JP Morgan’s outlook with the appealing headline  “Buy everything in China”. This was followed on Tuesday by Goldman’s statement that all the risks in China have now been factored in.

Quiet optimism in the Luxembourg fund industry suggests that proposed tweaks to the ELTIF regime could unlock this concept’s potential. Wealth managers report growing demand for funds that can give clients exposure to alternative strategies, and new suggested changes could do the trick.

With a return of 46 per cent year-to-date, the ACATIS Datini Valueflex is on a roll this year. The 10 per cent allocation to cryptos, via an investment in three crypto ETFs and a direct investment in Coinbase, have helped considerably. But at the top is vaccine maker BioNTech, which is responsible for 11 per cent of the return, according to a conversation with fund manager Hendrik Leber (pictured), who called the fund the “chilli pepper of an investment portfolio”. 

Pascale Nachtergaele, manager of the Nagelmackers European Real Estate Fund, finds real estate still interesting given the low interest rate environment. Her preference continues to be for logistics property, but she also sees potential in other segments.

The ongoing, rapid consolidation in asset management is exposing problems around rebranding. “Crucial” is untangling one’s own story from broader sector narratives, in this jumble of mergers and acquisitions. 

It takes a lot of guts to come up with the proposition that this is the moment to shift the emphasis from growth to value stocks. But John Bailer, US equity income manager at Newton Investment Management, is certain. The reason: structural changes in the macroeconomy. Soaring inflation, for example, is giving rise to a veritable “value renaissance”.

Cryptocurrencies are causing the European Central Bank increasing concern. This exotic market segment operates outside the domain of central banks and, according to specialists, can undermine monetary and financial stability. This form of alternative liquidity is a highly undesirable development, according to Sylvester Eijffinger, emeritus professor of financial economics at Tilburg University and visiting professor at Harvard University’s economics department.