Investment Officer Luxembourg

Insurance companies are looking to significantly increase their allocations to private equity, mid-market corporate loans and infrastructure debt, according to a survey of almost 300 firms by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

‘Insurers are planning to increase risk in their investment portfolios, probably by shifting liquidity to riskier asset classes,’ GSAM concludes. The asset manager calls the risk sentiment ‘decidedly positive’, due to reduced uncertainties amid the global pandemic.

The Netherlands’ NN Group announced on Monday it is reviewing “strategic options” for its asset management division, NN Investment Partners (NN IP). These include a sale, merger and listing.

The number of institutional investors implementing ESG criteria has risen by almost 20% in two years, and almost 9 in 10 fund selectors want to maintain or expand their ESG offering. This could easily turn into a bubble, Natixis Investment Managers has warned.

The US asset manager expects inflation to be slightly below 2% for developed economies over the next 10-15 years, despite the unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus. ‘We expect a lot of volatility in the short term, with inflation possibly temporarily exceeding central bank targets. But in the medium term, we will return to the pre-pandemic structural trends,’ says Vincent Juvyns, macro strategist at JP Morgan AM. 

Outsourcing middle office activities such as processing transactions made by asset managers’ front offices is the biggest growth market in the asset servicing business, according to State Street’s Dick Taggart. ‘We want to become the Amazon of asset management outsourcing’, he told Investment Officer.

Few doubt the pandemic has changed for good the lives of the near half of the Luxembourg workforce who are able to work from home. The financial services regulator has clarified rules on governance, substance and security requirements for remote working.