Produits

Factor investing, an investment approach that involves targeting specific drivers of return across asset classes, is attracting increasing interest from investors. Factors such as value, size and momentum have a long history in the investment world and have been extensively empirically researched and documented in the academic literature. Although there are different variations for these factors as well, the factor quality is perhaps the most debated, both in academia and in practice.

You may not have noticed it while on holiday this summer, but Italy is once again in crisis. Political risks make for an uncertain economic outlook. This week, we look at the top 5 bond funds with the highest exposure to the battered Italy debt markets.

Global asset manager Invesco has launched an actively managed, 30 million dollar investment fund focused on metaverse companies. The Invesco Metaverse Fund will be domiciled in Luxembourg and will be distributed to investors across Europe.

The metaverse is defined as a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users. Virtual and augmented reality has the potential to add some 1.7 billion euro to the world economy and approximately 23 million jobs by 2030, according to consultancy PwC.

Boris Radondy, manager of the DNCA Global Sport Equity fund, expects strong growth in the sports sector over the next few years and believes it can present predictable long-term growth.

DNCA Finance’s integration of Ostrum Asset Management in October 2020 added a team of 21 people and 7 billion euro in assets under management, mainly in equity and convertible bond management. 

Boris Radondy (DNCA Finance), le gérant du fonds DNCA Global Sport Equity, pointe la forte croissance attendue pour les prochaines années sur les secteurs liés à l’activité sportive, qui bénéficient d’une trajectoire de croissance visible sur le long terme. 

The risk of recession and persistent inflation resulted in a correction of almost all risky assets. Also high yield bonds ended the first half of the year with heavy losses. An update:

Interest rate hikes in developed markets caused most bond categories to be deeply in the red after the second quarter of this year. High-yield bonds were not spared: The ICE BofA Glb High Yield Constrained Index closed the second quarter of 2022 with a loss of 5.7 percent measured in euros after giving up 4 percent in the first quarter.

More lenient EU regulations are about to make it possible for providers to offer private investment funds to private investors. Private products such as semi-liquid funds and European Long Term Investment Funds, or Eltifs - which can be marketed also to retail clients under a European passport, often via Luxembourg - will gradually change the private equity landscape. “The split that the market currently finds itself in will then be resolved,” said Wim Nagler, head of institutional clients at Schroders.

With a first-half loss of 7 percent when measured in euro, the GBI-EM Global Diversified Index, the benchmark for emerging market bonds, was by no means the worst student in its class.

The past six months have been one of the toughest for bonds ever. Especially long-dated bonds have taken a beating. The Bloomberg Euro Aggregate 10+ Year index fell by no less than 23.6 percent while the Bloomberg Euro Aggregate 1-3 Year index was “only” 2.9 percent lower.

The fact that agricultural commodity prices have risen very sharply in recent months does not mean that investors should expect an equally harsh decline. The precarious balance in the global chain keeps prices high. This offers opportunities for investors.

After underperforming in the first quarter, the emerging markets index outperformed the MSCI World in the second quarter. This was entirely due to China, which ended the second quarter positively, while almost all other equity markets suffered significant losses.