BNP Paribas Asset Management

Which assets stand to benefit?

Lessons to be learnt from the performance of Japan’s financial markets

Most drivers of volatility are fundamentally positive, so that fact that 2017 has so far been a year of unusually low volatility in US equities is not necessarily a reason to be uncheerful.

In the immediate future, we do not necessarily see any risks arising from the current, very slow pace that central banks in major developed economies are taking towards normalising monetary policy.

Trumponomics in 2016 gives way to Trumpidation in 2017

Crude oil prices have had their ups and downs (mainly downs) in recent years, falling most recently by close to 4% during the week that began 19 June 2017. While this hit the valuations of oil-linked assets such as some Emerging Markets (EM) currencies, the effect on broader risky assets has been fairly muted.

Main takeaways from the presentations at the recent Inquire seminar in Liverpool.

Equity markets extended their rally in May. Not only did the old market saying (which, by the way, is a little simplistic and rather poorly backed) “sell in May and go away” not prove true, but equities gained 1.9% (MSCI AC World index in US dollars) over the month of May.

Sustainable development, or the concept of economic development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations, came into being following an initiative taken by the United Nations (UN) in the 1980s.

A sign of the times: major newspapers are reporting on the growing concerns in official circles over the environmental threats to the planet. Such was the case following the UN’s annual World Water Day on 22 March.