Investissement

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.”

Net inflows for Ucits investment funds in Europe more than doubled in January when compared to a month earlier as investors regained trust in the economy and hoped that the interest rate peak was in sight. Money market funds and alternatives funds however experienced a surge in outflows.

Data reported by the European Fund and Asset Management Association, Efama, showed that net inflows for Ucits funds rose to 43 billion euro in January, compared to 16 billion in December of last year.

The Federal Reserve still raised interest rates by 25 basis points despite the banking woes. But not because it has high confidence that all will be well. Moreover, by not pausing once, it has again misled the market.

The European Union on Monday published the text of its updated regulation on long-term investment funds, known as Eltif 2.0, in its Official Journal, clearing the final hurdle before its implementation from January next year.

The publication was expected following the adoption by the European Parliament in February. Luxembourg, as a leading investment funds hub in Europe, is keen to develop itself as an international hub for this new type of investment funds which will open up alternatives and private equity also to non-institutional investors.