Boardrooms have ‘visibly evolved’, according to EY Investors Boardroom Monitor, but half of groups yet to achieve 40% female representation on boards Almost half (47%) of Europe’s asset and wealth managers are yet to reach the 40% female representation on boards target required by the European Women on Boards Directive, according to the latest EY…
The European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have launched a €100m top-up for the InvestEU programme. Announced this week by the EC, the new project will be known as HERA Invest and will work to support research and development – focusing especially on health emergency prevention and preparedness. The instrument is geared…
Estonia has been identified as one of the easiest countries for investors to do business in by the Investment Promotion Report 2023. The report, published by Emerging Europe, picked out several factors for this conclusion, including the nation’s ease with electronic systems and infrastructure. “Estonia stands out as a frontrunner, saving an impressive amount of…
Europe’s largest IPO of 2023 was confirmed this week when Romanian electricity producer Hidroelectrica began trading in Bucharest. The firm’s capitalisation has been pegged at more than €10bn, with its stock rising nearly 11% on the first day of trading. According to Balkan Green Energy News: “After several failed attempts over the past decade, Romania’s…
In a surprising twist, European investors seem less optimistic than their peers around the world in their businesses meeting net-zero obligations by 2030. ESG Analyst Survey 2023: Mind the Gap, a report from Fidelity International, asked respondents what proportion of their companies they believed were allocating enough capital expenditure to achieve net zero by 2030,…
Financial conditions have “tightened further” in recent months – especially in Europe – according to the latest quarterly outlook report from Robeco. In Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the Dutch asset manager stated it had also seen “further tightening” in lending standards, which it added had arisen from the rapid rise in…
Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s digital and competition chief, has joined the race to head the European Investment Bank (EIB), multiple media reports have indicated. The bank’s current president, Werner Hoyer, is set to step down at the end of the year after serving two terms and, as Politico noted, the mooted move would make…
The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) is to allocate $400m (€365m) into Swedish company Northvolt. The Canadian firm, which manages $79bn of assets for public-sector entities and other clients, said the funding would enable the battery maker’s planned expansion. It referred to Northvolt’s first gigafactory in northern Sweden, which produces batteries using fossil-fuel electricity.…
Individual investors in Germany have identified inflation as their biggest concern, according to a report from Natixis Asset Managers. Almost three-quarters (71%) of respondents in Germany told the Natixis Global Survey of Individual Investors that inflation was their biggest fear – compared with 58% of respondents globally. This comes at a time when inflation in…
France has retained top spot as Europe’s top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), despite a 7% fall in European projects since the pandemic, according to Ernst & Young (EY). The management consultant’s report, Navigating Through Turbulence, stated there were 1,259 projects in France in 2022, making it the biggest recipient of projects in Europe…
Private equity investors are anticipating a good year for the sector in Europe in 2023, followed by a stronger year still in 2024. Half (51%) of the respondents to Coller Capital’s latest Global Private Equity Barometer indicated they expected a stronger outcome for European private equity in 2023, rising to 71% for 2024. This was…
The European Commission (EC) has set out a new package of measures around the EU sustainable finance framework. The Commission said the package was part of an effort to ensure the framework continued to support companies and the financial sector, while encouraging private funding. Among its auspices were a new set of EU Taxonomy criteria…
