Germans are known for their rather conservative attitude to investing. In defiance of this stereotype, the country’s fund buyers are now more bullish than the average European investor on all equity asset classes. At the same time, they are unwinding their fixed income positions.
Index-tracking products continued to rise in popularity in 2015. According to data collated by research consultancy ETFGI, ETFs listed in Europe gathered a record amount of new assets in 2015.
Since Markowitz, multi-asset investing has been increasingly “en vogue”. The other trait that has caught the imagination – as well the attention of the regulators – is risk assessment.
In this video interview, Franklin Templeton’s head of European fixed income David Zahn explains why he is redeploying his assets from government bonds to corporate bonds. He also challenges the notion that rising Fed rates mean the dollar will strengthen in the medium term.
US equity funds have a hard time in beating their peers on a sustained basis. Only 4.28% of 678 US equity funds analysed by S&P managed to consistently finish in the top-quartile during three consecutive one-year periods from September 2012 to September 2015. So no wonder investors prefer the passive option…
Japanese equities are enjoying their time in the rising sun in terms of the preferences of many investors, but is this a sound move destined to yield rewards or an act of desperation?
Thomas Romig, formerly head of one of the largest multi-asset businesses in Germany at Union Investment, recently launched a multi-asset fund at his new employer Assenagon AM. Even though his new fund is focused on capital preservation, he included the Legg Mason Clearbridge US Aggressive Growth Fund in his portfolio.
JP Morgan AM today launched a Ucits fund of hedge funds which is run on a managed account basis by seven different hedge fund managers. While the JP Morgan Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund is Ucits-compliant, some of the strategies it uses are not.
The Norwegian government has launched a review of the asset allocation of the national oil fund ‘Statens pensjonsfond utland’. The purpose of the review is especially to determine whether its current exposure of 60% to equities should be increased.
The number of M&A deals completed in 2015 excelled with record returns for acquirers, according to Willis Towers Watson’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor (QDPM).
Not so long ago, Belgian fund selectors were more optimistic about the macroeconomic outlook than any of their peers in Europe. Even more recently, they were Europe’s biggest buyers of both European and US equities. But times have changed.
As we start 2016 there is at least one thing which is strikingly similar to the same time last year.
