Opinion

The global economy has experienced several major shocks in recent years. A period of normalisation has now begun. Once the dust settles, we’ll see if there are any differences from the pre-pandemic world. To discover these, we must seek out striking and deviating patterns.

When the international freight traffic was disrupted during the pandemic, economists began paying closer attention to overseas container transport. Over the last two years, a development has emerged that you could rightly call worrying for Europe. 

Comme prévu, la Réserve fédérale a de nouveau relevé le taux cible des Fed Funds de 25 points de base pour le porter à 5,50 % (limite supérieure). La hausse cumulée des taux s’élève désormais à 525 points de base, ce qui en fait le plus important cycle de resserrement en plus de 40 ans.

Since 2014, the kickback fee, also known as distribution fee, has been abolished in the Netherlands. Prior to this, asset managers would continuously pay a fee to distributors whenever investments were made in the asset manager’s funds.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) recently focused its attention to undue costs of Ucits and AIFs and issued an opinion thereon in May 2023. In January 2021, Esma started a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with the national supervisors on the costs and fees of Ucits across the EU/EEA, in particular referring to charging investors undue costs.

I had to double-check my Bloomberg screen. But it was there indeed, Dutch central bank chief Knot indicated in a recent Bloomberg interview that further monetary tightening after the ECB meeting in July is anything but guaranteed. And that, coming from the most hawkish member of the ECB’s Governing Council.

J’ai dû regarder attentivement mon écran Bloomberg à deux reprises. Mais il y était vraiment dit, comme l’a indiqué le patron de DN Knot dans une récente interview à Bloomberg, qu’un nouveau resserrement monétaire après la réunion de juillet de la BCE est pratiquement garanti. Et cela de la bouche même du membre le plus optimiste du conseil des gouverneurs de la BCE.

According to research, a typical board director in the Luxembourgish fund industry is a 53-year-old European man with 22 years of work experience (who probably plays golf). Their role is to ensure investors avoid the rough and get to the green safely. 

Failure results in a penalty stroke from the CSSF.

Just over one year into his tenure as Chief Executive Officer at Quintet, Chris Allen has unveiled a significant next move for the Luxembourg-headquartered private bank. The partnership he has brokered with BlackRock aims to inspire a fresh way of working in its five main markets, one that respects the nuances of domestic investment cultures.

Le premier semestre 2023 s’est achevé sur une belle accélération haussière. Les indices boursiers en tête ont également de redonné des couleurs aux marchés actions au cours des mois précédents. Les indices return NASDAQ, FANG et S&P Composite ont enregistré des bénéfices semestriels respectifs (en USD) de 35 %, 70 % (!) et 14 %. 

The European Central Bank (ECB) may not openly acknowledge it, but behind the scenes, goodwill is slipping away. Goodwill represents the intangible, invisible value of a company. When applied to a central bank, it refers to the willingness to make unpopular decisions in the short term, such as raising interest rates when inflation skyrockets. Since 2021, the ECB has squandered much of its goodwill, but during June, it has managed to regain a fraction of it.