Investissement

Tensions in the banking sector increase the likelihood of a recession during the year, according to chief investment officer Guy Wagner at asset manager BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments.

Nevertheless, prior to the onset of the banking turmoil, the resilience of the global economy was still in evidence, with service activities continuing to benefit from robust household demand due to continued full employment in most countries, Wagner and his team said in their latest monthly market report.

Although there’s consensus on clouds hanging over private real estate markets while some investors here still face a rough ride, instability in the market for Real Estate Investment Funds, known as REIFs, - unlike the European Central Bank - is not seen as an immediate systemic threat to the real economy, according real estate specialists in Luxembourg and London.

Downgraded green credentials for hundreds of investment funds and an increasingly polarised political US debate on ESG investments are shaping the current industry debate on sustainable finance. Joachim Nahem, sustainability expert and chief executive at Oslo-based Position Green, notes the emergence of a new concept that has taken over from greenwashing: green hushing. 

This week, the European Central Bank published its ‘Monetary developments in the euro area’ report. And with that, we finally got information on bank deposits in the euro area.

European deposits look a lot better on an aggregate level than in America. Unlike in the United States, where bank deposits are down 3 per cent from a year ago, Eurozone deposits are still growing. That means the risks of traditional bank runs are lower here.

The global market for Exchange Traded Funds, better known as ETFs, is projected to more than triple in the next ten years to reach 30 trillion dollars, says Brown Brothers Harriman in a new study it releases today. Developments in this market are closely watched in Luxembourg, Europe’s second-biggest hub for ETFs. ETFs are increasingly finding their way into institutional portfolios, concludes BBH in its annual survey of 325 institutional investors, financial advisors and fund managers from the US, Europe and China.

Europe’s fund and asset management organisation Efama, active in the development of the updated European long-term investment fund, expressed  strong optimism this week about the updated vehicle’s interest to both professional and retail investors and its ability to fulfill its Capital Market Union aspirations. Despite early questioning of its ability to provide sufficient liquidity to attract retail investors, Efama’s expert detailed how the legislation provides several tools that afford liquidity solutions.

European private equity investors have become more cautious during recent weeks following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse. Appetite for alternative investments however remains strong while some investors embrace the ‘dislocation’ in the market as an opportunity. “If you’re selective, you can even do better than expected.”

Panic over banks and falling treasury yields have gold prices flirting with an all-time high again. In the short term, a quicker turn by the Federal Reserve may be the deciding factor, but the precious metal’s real success lies deeper. “Gold deserves a structural role in the portfolio.”

Gold prices briefly climbed past the 2,006 dollar per troy ounce level last week. With that, the August 2020 all-time high of 2,075 per troy ounce is getting closer.

Le portefeuille 60/40 est dénigré de toutes parts, car les obligations, l’an dernier, n’ont offert aucune protection contre la correction des actions. Si beaucoup cherchent leur salut dans les actifs alternatifs, d’autres prêchent plutôt pour une allocation flexible. 

Les obligations n’ont pas offert de protection en 2022

Green bonds are becoming mature and are a good diversification in a portfolio because they provide above-average transparency, according to Julien Bras (photo), bond manager at Allianz Global Investors. 

Bras argued that green bonds are an interesting way to get more diversification in bond portfolios. “The main argument for me to include green bonds in portfolio is their transparency compared to traditional bonds.”