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In ValueWalk’s Q&A session, Thomas Schumann, founder of the Water Security Fund, discusses the fund’s structure, the water crisis outside America, and the correlation between Africa’s population and climate change.
From open pensions and retirement solutions, to robo advice and open APIs, Horizons: Lifetime Savings & Investments on 18-19 June covers it all. Get your discount now!
Economists at S&P Global Ratings believe that the trade war’s direct effect on the US and Chinese economy is likely to be minimal. However, trade-dependent economies, including Europe and Canada, will be affected.
Global investment firm The Carlyle Group announced that it has agreed to sell vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste GmbH, a European provider of software solutions for investment professionals, to Infront ASA.
Join Aanand Venkatramanan, Legal & General Investment Management, and Mark Higgins, Strategen Consulting, for a webinar on 9 April to hear insights about the global battery technology investment case.
Finding excellent investment opportunities in wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants is difficult. The New Energy Investor Summit on 20th May in Zurich targets investors, suppliers of investment opportunities and service providers in the field of renewable energies.
Meet 250 selected M&A decision makers from Germany and Europe and discuss the most recent trends during a comprehensive M&A day on May 7 in continental Europe’s financial centre. Participation in this event is free of charge for corporates.
A recently published white paper of Business Wire based on an expert interview with Christine Riedmann-Streitz, MarkenFactory GmbH, outlines the key challenges and practical implications that the digital age carries for brands and for the competitiveness of companies.
Distributed Ledger Technology is rapidly disrupting traditional business processes. Join 2,000 industry leaders, 80+ speakers and 50+ innovative exhibitors at Blockchain Summit Frankfurt taking place on the 26th March at Kap Europa, Frankfurt.
The conference held on 18-19 June in London will bring together leaders in the world of pensions, long-term savings and retail investments. Use the discount code for altii members.
The conference held on 5 March in London will bring together an array of industry leaders for an exciting day of strategic discussions and networking. altii members receive a 10% discount.
Alcohol has, consumed irresponsibly, potentially negative consequences for consumers’ health and the environment. From an ESG perspective, the risks of alcohol and its production need to be considered in investment decisions.
Candriam launches the world's first free learning platform for sustainable investing. The platform aims to raise awareness of SRI in the financial community, educate participants and communicate knowledge.
Europe’s asset management industry has enjoyed another record year. McKinsey identifies the three types of asset managers that have been particularly successful.
Raiffeisen Capital Management’s Raiffeisen-Euro-Rent is by far the bond fund with the longest top-rating from Scope. The fund invests broadly diversified in euro bonds.
Due to the variety of possible use cases and low costs, plastic has become indispensable in our lives. In the latest issue of their ESG Letter, the Erste AM shows which problems are connected with plastic.
Due to the continuing low interest rate environment, fixed maturity funds are enjoying increasing popularity. The subscription period for the Raiffeisen-Mehrwert 2024 ends on June 29, 2018.
The Mackay Williams ‘Fund Brand 50’ 2018 Report ranks Pictet Asset Management as the fourth strongest fund brand on the European market due to its expertise, innovation and sustainability.
The World Economic Forum lists a global water crisis as the fifth biggest risk in the coming years. The Erste AM looks at the sustainability of water in their latest ESG letter.
Finding excellent investment opportunities in wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants is difficult. The Investor Summit connects investors with project developers, providers of investment structures, and service providers.
The world's premier global investment management event returns to Berlin on 11-13 June for three days of networking and discussion of the opportunities for the asset management industry.
At the Prestel & Partner Family Office Forum, more than 160 German-speaking family offices will meet on April 17 and 18 for their annual networking and knowledge exchange.
On May 3, the financial information industry will be gathering at the DKF Congress 2018 to discuss the topic "How to compete in the financial information and technology industry in 2020 and beyond".
ETF Securities adds three new ETFs on battery technologies, pharmaceutical breakthroughs and e-commerce logistics to its Future Present technology range. They complement products on robotics and cyber-security.
According to McKinsey, wealth and asset managers can find a competitive edge and improve their value proposition by eliminating biases in their investment decision making.
In videos, ETF Securities’ research team comments on a range of disruptive themes, from commodities to Bitcoin and green bonds to central bank policy.
Investors could be forgiven for wondering whether they will be as pleasantly surprised in 2018 as they were in 2017. Schroders publishes the outlook series for 2018.
The Christmas season in particular shows how enormous the logistical effort has become. In the current issue of their sustainability magazine, Erste AM takes on this exciting topic form an ESG perspective.
ETF Securities will be hosting their 2018 Investment Outlook webinar on the 5th December to help investors stay informed about the macroeconomic trends likely to be prevalent in 2018.
ETF Securities has agreed to sell its European business with exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged funds to WisdomTree Investments.
Nearly all investors surveyed in Schroder’s Global Investor Survey 2017 feel the need to improve their investment knowledge in at least one area, especially regarding SRI, tax efficiency and asset classes.
Business Wire invites you to their panel discussion on "Public Relations in Times of Communication 4.0 - Are Women Possible Better Communicators?". The event includes the ticket for the Future Convention on 29 November in Langen free of charge.
A survey conducted by Schroders among 500 institutional investors shows that professionals are facing challenges to sustainable investment too.
A study by Rosenberg Equities shows that investors do not have to accept a lower dividend yield in order to invest sustainably. The quantitative firm focused its research especially on carbon emotions.
ETF Securities’ Outlook 2017 - September Update examines the trends top-of-mind for investors for the remainder of 2017 and beyond. In their video series, experts explain the topics covered in the report.
The equity research business has been under pressure from clients and regulation. However, the business model can be attractive if providers can deliver the types of research the buy side values, says McKinsey.
Comparisons of real returns since the 19th-century make a case for real estate and equity. Supposedly secure asset classes were subject to fluctuations, which also caused temporary negative returns.
On September 12, ETF Securities will be hosting a webinar on its Outlook 2017 - September Update to keep investors informed about the macroeconomic trends for 2017 and beyond.
The Eurex Annual Derivatives Forum 2017 takes place on 21 September in Frankfurt. Join for an informative afternoon featuring exciting panel discussions and interactive presentations.
Searching for interdisciplinary exchange of future ideas and new business models? Attend the Future Convention, Germany’s biggest events on future projects, on 29th November in Langen.
In its seven-year asset class forecast, Schroders expects cash and bonds to deliver negative real returns. While riskier assets including credit, equity and alternatives might achieve positive returns, these are not assured.
Technological innovations along with macroeconomic trends and changing consumption patterns are transforming the way resources are consumed and produced around the world.
Change is upon the energy systems around the world. Research by McKinsey and the World Economic Forum has identified the game changers and implications for energy companies and policy makers.
About four fifths of institutional investors are already considering ESG criteria. Many investors that have invested less than a quarter of their portfolio in responsible strategies plan to increase the share substantially though.
In the latest EY FinTech Adoption Index, Ernst & Young finds mass consumer adoption, significant market traction and strong prospects for growth. In the future, more traditional non-users are driving adoption.
The Family Office Forum Zurich is the annual meeting of Family Offices and UHNWI from all over the world, a truly global gathering of Family Offices held in English. Prestel & Parter holds its next event on 14th-15th November.
Thanks to a maturing supply chain, high level of expertise and strong competition, European offshore wind energy can be competitive with other sources of energy within the decade, says McKinsey.
On July 7, Ladies Inside & STARTPLATZ Köln screen the movie in combination with a networking event in Cologne. The event includes the film screening, a moderated panel discussion as well as ample time to network.
In ETF Securities’ webinar, experts explain the impact of AI on automation and robotics as well as products making the megatrend accessible for investors. The full recording is now available.
Research from the Harvard Business School finds that initial success indicates the further achievements of venture capital funds. However, this is not caused by the VCs ability to nurture companies or spot promising trends.
The robotics and automation megatrend is still in its infancy, and yet the investment case presents an opportunity. On June 21, ETF Securities invites to a webinar about the impact of AI on robotics and automation.
A survey among institutional investors shows that German properties are losing their attractiveness. One-third of asset managers considers the price level to be overpriced. Markets outside of the EU are deemed more favourable.
The impact the UK election will have on the Brexit negotiations is in doubt. Using the altii content link, altii provides institutional investors with an overview of market commentaries.
Despite high inflows into ETFs, many products are not reaching a cost-covering volume in the fragmented European market. Bloomberg expects the ETF market to consolidate in the coming years.
Most real estate asset managers agree: Digitalisation has an evident influence on their business models. Unclear responsibilities and a lack of focus, however, slow the managers down, says EY.
The rating agency Scope has published a new methodology for assessing the quality of asset managers investing primarily in liquid and traditional investments.
State Street and the CFA Institute claim to have found a previously hidden variable affecting long-term investment performance, client satisfaction and employee engagement.
The role of ESG factors in institutional investors’ decision making is expanding. However, corporations continue to publish sustainability reports primarily for consumers and regulators, shows an EY analysis.
Major capital projects are habitually affected by overruns and delays. McKinsey proposes contracting, insurance and management approaches to improve profitability and eliminate dysfunctions.
While advertisers acknowledge the importance of digital capabilities, their organisations have failed to improve these. Turning to agencies sets the path to widen the skill divide between advertisers and agencies, says BCG.
In their global survey, PwC has asked 550 investment professionals about their views on the impact of globalisation and technology on growth, talent, trust and society, and contrasts those views with findings among CEOs.
Direct real estate investments from institutional investors are increasing significantly since 2010. However, EY sees extensive challenges for investors that want to take real estate investment functions in-house.
The total return to shareholders is a standard approach to measuring a company’s stock market performance. However, McKinsey argues that TRS does not reflect underlying performance and health. So, what does?
Consumers are increasingly using digital channels. In their Global Consumer Banking Survey, EY finds that traditional segmentation is inadequate and proposes a segmentation based on digital and financial savviness.
Lupus alpha has investigated the returns of Absolute Return funds. On average in 2016, they earned a return of 0.39 percent. Only a narrow majority of funds has, at least, kept their return promise.
Asset managers' margins are likely to fall in the future, shows a study published by Oliver Wyman and Morgan Stanley. While many asset managers reduce costs, they continue to give digitisation a miss.
Join the Prestel & Partner Family Office Forum on the 9th and 10th of May in Wiesbaden. More than 160 Family Offices, UHNWI and experts meet to network and learn from each other.
Since 1993, the World Water Day has been celebrated annually on March 22. At altii, we have taken the opportunity to updated our sustainability special and add valuable content about the topic of “water" to it.
BayernInvest and ACATIS are jointly launching a global equity fund, which is entirely managed by artificial intelligence. Aiming to outperform the MSCI by three percent every year, the fund is the first of his kind on the German market.
Held on March 28 in Frankfurt a.M., the conference combines various disciplines across the field of quantitative finance in one location to explore and discuss the critical issues confronting the approach.
Actual allocations into real estate still lack behind institutional investor’s targets. McKinsey looks into hopes and fears regarding the asset class, its return possibilities and current trends among investors.
Passive products remain a driver of growth. With investors concerned about fees and manager performance, passive products grew 4.5 times faster than the complete asset management industry during the last year.
In Germany, the volume of real estate transactions has been declining for two years. And the lack of investment opportunities continues: 61 percent of the respondents surveyed by EY Real Estate expect a further decline in volume.
The Financial Stability Board is concerned about structural risks of the asset management industry. With 14 recommendations, the institution aims at making investment funds more sustainable and secure.
The CFA Institute has questioned 3.803 of its members. They expect financial technologies to disrupt primarily the asset management in the mass market - but not without risks and concerns.
The ongoing search for ways to increase productivity drives digitisation. With an ETF range on robotics, automation and cyber security, ETF Securities makes the mega trend available to investors.
The exchange operator Nasdaq plans to invest in financial technology companies by setting up a venture capital arm, says Reuters. Being invested already, the decision formalises its technology orientation.
As in previous years, the financial information industry will meet at the DKF congress. On May 9, executives and experts meet in Munich to discuss current challenges and trends in their industry.
Many investment professionals are active on professional platforms. LinkedIn has created a webinar explaining how to reach such a professional audience using sponsored content and text ads.
Due to low interest rates and stricter regulation, European insurance companies are investigating ways to increase returns. Doing so, they plan to invest €1 trillion via asset managers within the next three years.
Investing in digital capabilities is a priority for every company, says McKinsey. However, business-to-business companies face additional challenges and lack behind their business-to-consumer counterparts.
On March 30, NextGen Alpha organises the unique AI event backed by ACATIS Investment in Frankfurt. Speakers will share insightful views on the impact AI is having on their investment management activities and plans.
Private equity firms have to dedicate significant resources to non-investment-related tasks such as regulatory and investor reporting. EY investigates, how CFOs prepare to deal with tomorrow’s challenges.
Being faster, cheaper, safer and less error-prone than other technologies, blockchain could become fundamental to every electronic transaction, shows mega.online.
Corporate bonds have higher drawdowns in falling markets than comparable combinations of equities and government bonds. They are therefore not a diversifier, says Anja Nieberding of Vontobel Asset Management.
The overriding theme of EY’s Financial Reporting Outlook event in London was that of change. While disruption threatens finance professionals, it is an opportunity to redefine the role of reporting functions.
Newly half of institutional investors expects the lower market liquidity to be a continuing development. Using surveys, State Street and the AIMA have investigated the effects of this trend.
Research from American Funds, a family of mutual funds from Capital Group, reveals how consumer’s experience shapes their saving and investment habits and how generations differ regarding them.
In a global investor study, Schroders spoke to 20,000 investors worldwide and comes to the conclusion that investors aim to find better long-term opportunities by complementing financial with sustainability analysis.
Due to the rapid pace of innovation, robots and artificial intelligence are headed to become an essential part of industrial production and human life. mega.online shows four ways of robots changing the world.
By November, investors have withdrawn a total of 286 billion dollars from US investment funds. Thereby, 2016 could become the worst year for active funds, while passive products continue to grow.
Investment returns are set to be lower during the next two decades - with severe consequences for asset owners and managers. McKinsey outlines those for different types of institutional investors.
Despite extraordinary highs and lows, returns were continually strong within the last 30 years, says McKinsey. However, US and European equity and bond returns are becoming weaker within the next two decades.
Financial technologies have a massive impact on investment advisory. The Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the Zurich Banking Association have developed possible development scenarios.
With the Digital Advisor, ifund and fundinfo launch a cloud-based tool for the selection of active and passive funds based on scientific criteria as well as investor preferences to reduce research and compliance costs.
During the past five years, venture capital has seen a rise in investment funds focussing on specific themes. Justin Caldbeck, the co-founder of Binary Capital, explains why this is beneficial for start-ups and funds.
Worldwide, more than 500 billion US-Dollar are invested in factor strategies. To investigate the motives behind the recently high inflows into the strategies, Invesco has surveyed institutional investors.
Combining valuable content with a corporate message to differentiate a brand is a tough task but can have an enormous effect on customers. In a webinar, Yahoo shows best practice of making use of the innovative ad format.
To have an impact, news and editorial coverage needs to be seen. Watch the recording of Business Wire’s webinar with Reddit on leveraging the 240 million active users and 45,000 communities on the social media platform.
Impact investing, generating social and environmental benefits while achieving financial returns, has attracted more than $77 billion in AuM. However, some changes are needed to allow further expansion, says McKinsey.
The British financial regulator FCA has examined the costs of investment funds. Due to high fees and lacking performance of active management, the regulator plans on enhancing transparency of investment goals and costs.
For 30 years, Raiffeisen Capital Management manages sustainability funds. Now, their product portfolio is expanded by a sustainability momentum fund that considers improvements in ESG factors when selecting shares.
After four years of growth, the AuM of the world’s 500 largest asset managers decrease by 1.7%. While investors’ portfolios remain similarly structured, alternative investments are on the rise.
After a most bitter and divisive U.S Presidential election, Donald Trump has won the U.S. Presidency. altii has composed a collection of market statements of numerous asset managers on the less predictable candidate.
Technology entrepreneurs that get funded by venture capitalist go public sooner and have more impactful innovations than start-ups that partner with angel investors, shows research from the University at Buffalo.
A study from PwC shows that many asset and wealth manager are not considering FinTechs in their strategic decisions. However, neglecting innovative start-ups could lead to the loss of market shares.
The market for solar power is growing faster than ever but continues to lack profitability. Besides operational efficiency, an improved capital allocation is a key to success.
Germany’s biggest events on future projects will take place in Frankfurt am Main. The Future Convention on November 28 is an exciting day for the interdisciplinary exchange of future ideas and new business models.
According to EY, technology, demographics and globalisation are the three forces disrupting the real estate industry. While they threaten traditional business models, they also embed significant opportunities.
The focus of PRIIP KIDs are future-oriented scenarios intended to give an impression of the opportunities and risks of a fund. fundinfo provides a user-friendly service to distribute the new document efficiently.
Business Wire’s invites you to their next MEDIAmeeting (MEDIAtreff) embedded in the Future Convention. Experts discuss in German, how startups can increase their publicity.
The Family Office Forum Zurich is the annual meeting of Family Offices and UHNWI from all over the world, a truly global gathering of Family Offices held in English. It is held by Prestel & Partner on 8-9 November 2016.
As a social news aggregator, Reddit reaches more than 500 million visitors every month. In Business Wire’s webinar, Mark Luckie from Rabbit illustrates best practice in reaching the Reddit community.
FinTechs are approaching complex front-, middle, and back-office tasks. Based on technological trends, EY and Innovate Finance categorise affected functions and identify grounds for collaboration.
REITs have become a popular vehicle to invest in real estate. Global market capitalisation grew to about $1.5 trillion with US REITs growing by almost 150% since 2010 and non-US REITs doubling their market cap.
State Street Global Exchange publishes the latest Investor Confidence Index results. Despite a more optimistic economic outlook, especially US investors remain risk averse.
Tools and frameworks for the management of credit and market risks are well established. For financial institutions, McKinsey identifies a shifting focus towards non-financial risks that requires changes in banks’ practices.
Since 2014, the fund subsidiaries of banks and insurance companies recorded high inflows while independent asset managers had to cope with lower inflows or even net outflows.
Private investors are too confident of their knowledge and are thus making mistakes when investing money. A new study from Schroders shows that global demand for financial advisory still exists.
Only 18 percent of CFA charter-holders worldwide are female. In Germany, this share drops to just 12.4 percent, shows a survey of the CFA Institute among more than 5,000 members.
Entrepreneurship can be a source of economic growth. With their Digital Entrepreneurship Barometer, EY assesses the G20 countries’ ecosystems and identifies best practice to enhance entrepreneurship.
Family offices have reduced their allocation to hedge funds by 10 percent within the last 12 months before May. A new study shows how family offices invest in illiquid assets and plan to cooperate.
Venture capitalists raise funds from investors that expect to realise returns within eight to twelve years. But having a specific deadline may force VCs to rush into projects and exit prematurely, especially in emerging markets.
In an Axa Investment Managers study, institutional investors certify themselves, at best, only a satisfactory knowledge about alternative debt. Asset managers should explain the topic with their years of experience.
The career portal efinancialcareers has analysed German asset manager and the German subsidiaries of internationally operating asset management companies. The ranking was completed by a survey among headhunters.
On September 14, ETF Securities invites you to their outlook webinar on the implications of political populism and debt for the economy and their effect on various assets.
Analysing a new data set, UBS finds SRI portfolios delivering insignificantly different returns from conventional portfolios. However, investors can expect SRI portfolios to have lower risks.
The better an insurer’s enterprise risk management, the better he performed during the financial crisis. McKinsey shows the elements of an effective framework that reduces volatility and improves capital performance.
Key stakeholders are requiring deeper insights into a company’s performance, strategy, governance, and risks. Surveying more than 120 executives, EY investigates, how corporations are improving their financial reports.
Asset allocation decision account to about 35 to 40 percent for the performance differences between funds. McKinsey finds that institutional investors are increasingly willing to rethinking their approaches and processes.
2015 was not an easy year for asset managers. Their performance was as bad as 2008, says the Boston Consulting Group in its annual study. Many asset managers must revise their business models accordingly.
Shares of small and medium-sized companies outperform those of large corporations. But higher returns can generally only be achieved by taking on an increased risk. A new study confirms the opposite for small companies.
Ownership by large institutional investors can cause an increase in volatility. Research finds that through large trades, every 1% ownership by large asset managers causes an increase in volatility by 12 to 18 basis points.
The asset and wealth management industry is being disrupted by FinTech start-ups. EY finds that this is just another challenge among regulation, technology, changing client demands and fiscal issues.
Increasing costs for infrastructure, tighter regulation and relentless competition erode profits from high frequency trading. The growth momentum seems to have reached its limits.
79 percent of German journalists use social media on a daily basis, says the latest Social Journalism study from Cision and the Canterbury Christ Church. This presents chances and challenges for public relations.
Despite recent market volatility, venture capital investments appear healthy. However, investments flow less into early-stage companies and more into unicorns, reveals the latest MoneyTree Report.
ETF assets could reach $7 trillion by the end of 2021. A new report published by PwC reveals that ETF assets will grow rapidly through entering new markets, expanding distribution channels and entering new asset classes.
The European Commission aims at increasing investments in small, medium and entrepreneurial companies. Doing so, the Commission proposes a change to venture capital regulations.
Investors face lower returns and higher volatility. However, the current RiskMonitor survey from Allianz Global Investors shows: Investors have not changed their risk management since the financial crisis.
Despite lower economic growth and high volatility, the Chinese market remains attractive for asset managers. A strong economy, deregulation as well as product innovation drive the market’s expansion.
Simply put, blockchains are distributed databases build with open-source code. However, they could disrupt the financial services industry - or transform it, depending how the technology is approached.
Many financial service providers could move their London activities abroad. Based on objective criteria, there should be a preference for Frankfurt am Main, says BCG.
Most institutional investors have realised that ESG criteria drive risks and returns and integrated them into their investment process. However, three problems seem prominent in integrating ESG integration.
Every year, the world invests $2.5 trillion in infrastructure. However, investments of about $3.3 trillion annually are needed to support the currently expected levels of economic growth.
A study from EY reveals that four of ten clients are willing to switch their asset manager and investment advisor. Thereby, revenues of 200 billion USD could be moved to asset managers that position themselves best - especially regarding digital services.
Budgets and human resource dedicated to social media are increasing in the asset management industry, says the Social Media Study from PwC and Caceis. By now, they are an integral part of the asset manager’s marketing mix.
Besides emerging markets, only few assets offer attractive returns. ETF Securities invites to a joint webinar with Fredrik Nerband, HSBC, on the opportunities of emerging markets on June 28 at 3pm.
Asset managers can benefit from the Registered Customer status for listed Eurex derivatives. With a straightforward implementation process, investors and traders can avoid the counterparty risk of their chosen clearing broker.
CAIA Germany and the BAI join to host an educational workshop for institutional investors on infrastructure investments. The event will be held in Munich and Frankfurt on July 5 and July 6 respectively.
Automated financial advisory is disrupting the asset management landscape - especially the retail segment. For institutional investors and UHNW clients, investment managers expect only minor changes.
The share of executives that perceive geopolitical instability as a major trend affecting their business has doubled within the last two years and have direct negative implication for corporate performance.
The first quarter was the worst for hedge funds since the financial crisis. Many see the reasons for the bad performance in the funds’ structure. Fees have to be transformed and liquidity is a bigger issue for investors.
While nearly 150 private tech companies have achieved a valuation of more than one billion, their public counterparts have performed poorly. The landscape for investors has changed with firms staying private longer.
The demand for a professional management of real estate is higher than ever, says a study from EY Real Estate and Triuva. However, many expect a further consolidation of the industry as complexity and costs rise.
Gold has performed better in times of negative real interest rates than in times of not-negative rates. For other, more industrially used precious metals, ETF Securities sees positive price signals too.
Industrial metals are enjoying a renaissance. ETF Securities invites together with Bloomberg Intelligence to join their webinar on May 25 about the improved outlook as well as the drivers and implications of it.
UK start-ups profit from an abundance of tech talents, regulation and London’s financial infrastructure. While they received more money than all continental European FinTechs, London’s role as a hub is threatened.
Many quote that markets are too volatile for some investors in order to make a case for their products. However, while short-term measures of volatile fluctuate, long-term volatility has been very stable.
Emerging markets have proven their economic and financial resilience. Attractive spreads and a lower volatility than US high yields make emerging market debt attractive. Further support comes from global trends.
After three decades of exceptionally high returns, performance drivers are likely to weaken or even reverse, says McKinsey. Investors should prepare themselves for decreasing returns over the next 20 years.
In their yearly study, Oekom-Reserach has analysed 1600 internationally active companies in regards to their sustainability. Only 16.3 percent of companies achieve the “prime status” in the evaluation.
After the US central bank has increased interest rates for the first time in nine years, further rate raises during the year have been postponed. With increasing inflation, this might require more aggressive intervention, says ETF Securities.
Due to high fees and weak performance, many investors are withdrawing their money from hedge funds. Assets under management have decreased by 15 billion to 2.68 trillion Dollar during the first quarter.
Based on financing activity, 2015 was a successful year for the cyber security industry. Due to diversified and increasing revenues as well as low volatility, cyber security stocks become attractive for investors.
Insurance companies suffer under cost extensive regulation, low interest rates and demographic changes. Due to increasing cost pressure, insurers want to expand their asset management to boost group profits.
Asset Managers that administrate public buildings on behalf of governments can influence politics and help governments to reduce their expenditure on assets. A new report indicates key trends in the industry.
Real estate prices are booming and in times of volatile share markets and low to negative bond returns, real estate funds are increasingly in demand. The run for real assets forces some asset managers to stop accepting new investments.
In a survey, the asset management firm Source examines that smart beta strategies are increasingly used by institutional investors. 27 percent are already invested in these products and 31 percent of the remaining are planning to do so.
Investors don’t want to be patronised with moral arguments but are to be convinced of sustainable investing by improved returns. Algorithms such as those used at Arabesque know, how to use ESG-factors profitable.
ETF Securities invites you to the outlook webinar on the macroeconomic implications of negative rates and the Fed’s policy. Taking for about 45 minutes, the webinar takes place on 20th April at 3pm.
Global executives are more reserved regarding the global economic outlook, while they still expect their companies to perform strongly and increase their profits. Some common risk and threads remain in the businessmen’s minds.
Hedge fund managers need to distinguish themselves from the rest of the market to attract investors that become increasingly concerned about clear investment processes and tighter control over assets managed.
In today’s multimedia world, information is no longer just published in texts but much more often using additional visual elements. Presenting financial data graphically increases engagement, entertainment and retention, shows a new study.
The world fights climate change and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables could tripple their market share by 2040 but the majority of electricity is still produced using coal and gas. Neither does nuclear power seem an option.
A while ago, becoming a banker was an attractive career choice. In a study pursued by the University of Maastricht and Studitemps, banking underperforms other industries in seven of ten criteria regarding the attractiveness for students.
ETFs are gaining larger market shares, not only but also because they cheaper than actively managed funds. Are traditional asset managers now facing their ends? No, says the Boston Consulting Group in a new study.
For venture capital investments, concentration to what one knows is an important factor. The venture capital arm of Intel plans on selling about a fourth of its portfolio companies. A sale that could be worth about $1 billion.
Alternative Strategies in an UCITS-compliant fund format are increasingly used by investors. Some investors praise them as the answer to low interest rates due to their ability to generate uncorrelated returns.
For quite some time, banks have to suffer under increasing costs from regulation. Those may now effect asset managers too, says a recently published study from Oliver Wyman and Morgan Stanley.
The sustainability topic remains interesting for investors. Studies show that sustainable corporate strategies are beneficial for the performance on stock markets. Especially passive products are successful in this area.
Over many years, the financial services industry could not be changed. While many businesses were disrupted in and since the dot-com bubble, finance stayed the same. But one may ask, if today’s FinTech players are different.
The world’s nations have committed themselves to the reduce carbon emissions. To do so, sustainable infrastructure is needed. To allow for more private investments, McKinsey says that some barriers have to be lifted.
Ernst & Young has asked Chief Compliance Officers from 20 global insurance companies. Many say, the compliance function has changed drastically while upcoming changes are still to come. Seven key themes strike out.
Due to concern about the banking system, a potential Brexit and many other themes, a resurgent interest in gold could be observed. On March 17, ETF Securities invites you to join the webinar on the prospects of the precious metal.
Argentina has reached an agreement with some of its creditors that should help end the 15 year long dispute that banned the country from the international fixed income markets.
Driven by innovative start-ups and major technology corporations, FinTech companies are capturing larger market shares of the financial services market. EY investigates the reasons that make customers switch to the new type of player.
ETF Securities and Lombard Odier Investment Managers invite you to their webinar on the impact of divergence within emerging market, global deflation and falling currencies in regards to their potential investment opportunities.
Quantum computers were once thought an impossible technology as they harness the power of quantum mechanics and are housed in unconventional environments. Now they are able to solve important problems in all kids of industries.
The biggest asset managers have, with few exceptions, much room for improvement regarding the integration of SRI criteria in their investment processes, says a survey pursued by the Handelsblatt.
US venture capital firms have raised $28.2 billion in 235 funds during the year 2015. Thereby, both measures have fallen: Fundraising is 9% down and the number of funds decreased by 36.
The Family Office Forum hosted by Prestel & Partner is taking place April 26th and 27th. More than 160 family offices, UHNWI and experts will network and exchange knowledge on the event.
ETF Securities invites you to gain insights into two key emerging investment themes introduced by two guest speakers. The webinar will take place on February 23 at 16 o’clock and lasts for about 50 minutes.
Smart beta ETFs are said to be corrupting the basic ideas of ETFs to establish a simple and cost efficient access to capital markets. Checking the facts about the criticism on this more and more attractive product category.
Responsible investing helps to identify companies that are more likely to outperform. “A quantitative approach that removes subjectivity has the advantage of making alpha generation in a repeatable process,” says Rohini Rathour.
In 2015, European start-up funding has hit a new record with 12.9 Billion Euro but the number of rounds closed went down by about 30%. A sign that VC investors are up for saver bets?
For the first time since 2011, investors have pulled more money out of hedge funds than they invested. Still, the industry’s AuM rose as performance gains outweigh investor’s withdrawals. Especially big funds were successful in 2015.
Fears about China’s economic conditions made global share markets plunge at the beginning of this year. Still, some key trends provide investors with opportunities in this increasingly diverse and volatile $11-trillion economy.
Investment strategies integrating ESG factors were typically strategies that included a lot of quantitative research and subjective judgements. New investors are now using quantitative approaches to invest responsible.
Despite the turbulent start of the year for global share markets, confidence of German institutional investor and financial analysts has fallen less than expected.
Low interest rates and volatile share markets drive investors into absolute return funds. An analysis of e-fundresearch.com says that only half of these funds have generated positive return during the past year.
Prestel & Partner invites to the Family Office Forum on 16th and 17th February in Dubai. On the event for MENA based family offices, more than 100 family offices, principals and CIOs meet.
For small and new hedge funds in Europe, 2015 has been a devastating year. Increasing costs as well as lower fees generated have forced some asset managers out of business and let to a decrease in the number of funds.
Asset managers including Vanguard and BlackRock were very successful in 2015 and have received the highest inflows during that year. Some other asset managers had to face serious outflows.
Electronic platforms are becoming a vital channel for global funds distribution. While those are not new to the financial industry, EY claims that asset managers have just been the slowest to adapt.
Analysts see lower first financings as a sign that start-up valuations are peaking and the funding of new ones is tapering off. While some see the peak of the VC investment cycle, other just see new rules for the industry.
After the past few years of turbulence for the European economy, 2016 can be the beginning of a stable period of economic recovery with growth being based on more than just consumer spending.
The asset servicing industry has growth by 16% on average during the last four years. EY looks at key issues for this critical but often unsung component of the global financial markets and how they invest to meet their client’s needs.
Inexpensive financing combined with bullish expectation has driven real estate prices. While many cities are overvalued by now, London and Hong Kong inherit the greatest risk of facing a real estate bubble, says UBS.
Scope Ratings expects 2016 an increasing competition among asset manager of alternative investment funds. Investors are likely to accept higher risks which, are to be managed adequately by the managers.
According to a report from Barclays, hedge funds are increasingly finding it difficult to hire good people. This might affect performance as a stable talent base “is the main, if not the only, source of competitive advantage.”
Real estate investors find opportunities across the globe, fundraising is up and new sources of financing emerge. Ernst & Young expects the real estate industry to be innovative in providing investors and fund managers with liquidity.
The European fund industry could collect 278.5 billion Euro since the beginning of the year. Despite those high inflows, the number of discontinued funds exceeds the number of launches. The pressure to consolidate remains high.
According to a study pursued by Aberdeen Asset Management among institutional investors, governance is an integral and critical factors when selecting and analysing investments. Still “it is more an art than a science”.
Alternative UCITS-funds attract high demand from investors and growth in AuM by 29 percent since the beginning of the year. Large funds profit most from the trend towards "liquid alternatives".
In the third quarter, the number of global technology M&A transactions grew to its seventh consecutive record. Although the aggregate value decreased compared to the second quarter, EY expects dealmaking strength to continue.
Share buybacks alone have increased to about 47 percent of the market’s income since 2011. Some investors and regulators question, whether this reflects underinvestment and reduces future growth.
Keep yourself up to date about the latest capital market research and outlooks with the following events and webinars taking place in November, December and January providing you with a head start in the upcoming year.
Ernst & Young expects years of change lying ahead for the global asset management industry at both, the institutional and retail, level. EY identifies the top nine drivers of change for this industry, which asset managers have to address.
Looking at the big picture, some key trends will affect the usage and demand for real estate globally and over the next decade: Urbanisation, a shift of economic power, the rise of the global middle class, ageing populations and global interconnectedness.
On November 24, ETF Securities hosts their next webinar. Giving an outlook for commodity prices, the webinar investigates whether commodities are at an inflection point as suggested by a growing number of analysts.
For the FERI EuroRating Award 2016 in the special mentions category Fund Innovations, FERI has nominated five funds. The funds set up by Ampega, Apo Asset Management, Finreon, Pictet Funds and Robeco all tackle different mega trends.
Berlin is facing an increasing demand for housing and office buildings. Due to its function as Germany’s capital, this trend in further enforced. A lock at current trends at this special real estate market.
The SEC has revised the rules for private investors taking equity stakes in start-ups raising capital via crowdfunding. Nearly everyone is now allowed to invest the greatest of $2,000 or 5% of annual income or net worth per year.
More institutional investors are relying on non-financial information to make better investment decisions and evaluate a company’s value creation. Integrated reports can help to fill information gaps.
Venture capital has become the dominant form of financing innovative American companies, says research form the Stanford Graduate School of Business. By now, VC-backed firms create employment and invest heavily in R&D.
Despite volatile markets, exchange traded funds are continuing to expand. EY looks at the industry environment for ETF providers, who are confident that their assets will grow and profitability will increase.
Global investment strategies in real estate are getting more complex due to the increasing number of markets and opportunities. A structured approach is needed to evaluate the return and the risk on each market.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has analysed the investment behaviour of Germans in a representative survey. Although many recognise the low interest rate environment, they do not react accordingly.
More than 16 billion dollar have been invested in 1070 US start-up during the third quarter of 2015. The venture capital invested so far during this year is already higher than in 17 of the last 20 years, says PwC and the NVCA.
Investors are not finding the attractive infrastructure investment opportunities they seek for. McKinsey says, they might be looking at the wrong places and gives them three principles to guide their search.
Among the large number of small- and mid-caps, some companies offer enormous growth potential to investors. Still, only few investors are active in those market segments.
For the first time, the "Transatlantic Alliance" conference will be hosted. In panel discussions and keynotes, speakers from around the world debate about technology and finance. Attend the conference for entrepreneurs and investors on November 24 in Berlin.
While a positive international economic development is questioned by more executives, consultants see positive impacts on the Eurozone’s economics development. Results from McKinsey and E&Y surveys and studies.
The asset management industry is recognising the importance of digitalisation in regards to their processes (Big Data) and sales (Social Media) but tackles the topic unsystematically. Results of a study pursued by Endava and Kommalpha.
Hedge funds are struggling with the worst year since the financial crisis. With a loss of just three percent, their performance is still better than the one of the global share markets.
Due to changes in their operating environment and the limit of costs savings being reached, firms must prepare for the “next phase of corporate competition” as the McKinsey Global Institute puts it.
MSCI reports a high demand in ESG data and indexes. ETFs tracking the MSCI ESG indexes grew nearly 30% and eleven new ETFs were launched within 2015. Still, the UN sees room for improvements - especially in the US.
Demographic changes put retirement systems under pressure. With no easy solution to secure the aged population’s financial well-being, E&Y identifies seven findings needed to develop customer-centric pension and retirement markets.
Industry incumbents face threads from two major fronts: Emerging market companies and high-tech firms put the profits of long established firms at a danger, analyses the McKinsey Global Institute.
Although the oil price has been declining for more than a year now, investors and countries keep building up renewables energies. The link between both disappears due to several good reasons.
On October 13, ETF Securities invites you to join their webinar “Personal Robots in the Home & Office - How a New Age of Robotics is Now Emerging” about investment opportunities in automation apart from industrial robots.
In a report analysing corporate profits, the McKinsey Global Institute identifies intellectual assets and inorganic growth as key factors for business success. The era of high profit margins is said to be over.
While the number of products has threefold within the last five year, the AuM of smart beta products grew to 73 billion Euro. An analysis shows that the performance depends massively on the concept, time frame and region.
Saudi Arabia tries to diversify its economy and solve housing problems by building economic cities. In an analysis of Ernst & Young, chances and risks for foreign investors are evaluated.
With the motto “Competition and Partnership among Financial Centres”, the 12. Kapitalmarktforum Schweiz takes place on October 29 in Zurich. Presentations will either be in German or English.
Algorithms can be used to allocate investor’s money. Just recently, BlackRock has announced to buy FutureAdvisor. It is one of the firms that offers automated financial advisory with distinct advantageous and disadvantageous.
Venture capital investments of the first half of 2015 have already reached the size of investments in the full year 2014, says the “Start-up-Barometer Deutschland” from Ernst & Young. Financing is still a major concern for founders.
Many institutional investors want to reduce their allocation to hedge funds and increase it to other alternatives, says a Prequin survey. Return expectations and reasons for investments differ among different alternatives.
Trend following strategies attempt to identify price patterns and deliver signals for trading positions to take advantage from the ongoing developments. Historically the concept was mainly used for commodities and in the markets for future contracts.
Prestel & Partner invites to the Family Office Forum on 15th and 16th September in London. On the event for English based family offices, more than 100 family offices, principals and CIOs meet.
With Saudi Arabia, the largest share market in the Middle East is open at least for institutional investors. An engagement on it bears chances and risks while market entry remains difficult.
Germany should construct housing space more intelligent, claims the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft. In large cities, 50% more flats should be build while some rural areas have already too much housing space.
Asset managers see huge chances in emerging markets if investors are not distracted by short-term developments. A look at the past months shows, that an active management can be advantageous.
So far in 2015, activist hedge funds are up 6.8% and are performing about three times as good as the overall market. Reasons could include psychological effects and more M&A transactions.
The German market for Schuldschiene is growing especially in the non-investment grade rating categories. While corporations substitute banks, institutional investors are using beneficial regulatory changes to gain higher yields.
The confidence level of Silicon Valley venture capitals has declined for the second quarter in a row and reduced to the lowest in two years. While long-term value creation remains strong, short to medium term projects are more uncertain.
In a base case, PwC expects that alternative assets increase to 13.6 trillion US-Dollar in 2020. To benefit from this growth in assets, alternatives manager must fulfil some key capabilities to fit in with the changing conditions in the industry.
Refracking, the practice of fracking existing wells, can be a cost saving investment for oil producers. Halliburton is now partnering up with BlackRock, which invest $500 million in refracking projects during the next three years.
Mandelbrot Asset Management start their first fund. Based on the market model of Benoît Mandelbrot, the market neutral fund invests in a selection of German equities trying to generate returns of eight percent.
Remunerations increase in the asset management industry, the demand for talents is high and diversity is becoming more important, analyse personnel consultants and headhunters on altii.
Capital markets will face crucial changes until 2020. Global wealth will grow to $222 trillion. An outlook for ETFs in Europe, the US and Asia as well as imperatives to be successful as an alternatives manager.
The Transatlantic Alliance invites you to their next MeetUp in Hamburg. On the evening of 28. August, the opportunities for StartUps in the Industry 4.0 will be discussed by three interesting speakers.
The wealth invested in Exchange Traded Funds surpasses the assets under management of hedge funds. At the end of this year’s second quarter, 2,971 trillion US-Dollar were invested in ETFs, says data from ETFGI.
In their study “Wining the Growth Game: Global Wealth 2015”, the Boston Consulting Group has identified five factors that are crucial for the success and future participation of global wealth growth for asset managers.
Globally, asset management firms are managing record sums and earn profits rarely seen. In Germany, assets under management have grown strong while profit margins of managers were falling.
The number of newly started businesses in Germany decreases despite programs and support for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Regarding internationally growing venture capital investments, Germany lacks behind.
At the beginning of the year, German insurance companies are holding 7,6% of their assets in real estate and plan to enlarge this number to 8.2% until the end of the year. Especially German and European markets in form of office property are attractive.
Regional differences in the growth of wealth, its sources as well as changing distributions of wealth are providing asset managers with opportunities to growth their business. Entrepreneurs become more interesting clients as well.
The MYRA Dynamic Turkey Fund celebrates its third birthday and keeps his performance promises towards investors despite a high volatility of Turkey investments. altii wishes MYRA Capital all the best and further successes with their funds.
Guaranteed interest rates, the low interest rate environment and international competition are bothering the German insurers. On the other hand, regulatory decisions have a minor impact on the real estate strategies of insurance companies, says a Ernst & Young study.
Robert Eccles, Professor at the Harvard Business School with a research focus on reporting, has been appointed the first chairman of the sustainability focusses asset manager Arabesque.
More institutional investors use responsible investment approaches. A recently published study from Union Investment points out that 58% of them invest sustainable. This enhances fund performance, says a study from Arabesque Asset Management.
Industry data shows that hundreds of new hedge funds launched within the first months of this year but nearly as many fund closings. Still, the number of funds hits a new record number on this very difficult market.
Due to inherit interest from investors, Source for Alpha wants to launch an emerging markets fund. The fund provides investors with the opportunity to invest in emerging markets without being exposed to high risks.
According to a GAM survey, the majority of professional investors expect that long-term targets cannot be achieved. Regulatory restrictions reduce their investment returns.
During May, ETFs have faced inflows of 18.3 billion USD. Goldman Sachs expects that the AuM of passive Products will double to 6 trillion until 2020. A development not fully uncriticised.
Deutsche Börse has started a program to connect young companies with international investors to finance their growth and establish a network.
According to a McKinsey publication, the false estimation of government’s cost of capital hinders private investors to participate in public-private partnerships. This effectively reduces private infrastructure investments.
In their dispute with hedge funds, Argentina faces additional requirements assigned by court. Before the majority of debt holders can be served, additional 500 preferred bond holders must be served despite the hedge funds.
The FSB and IOSCO have published criteria to evaluate the systematic relevance of market participants including asset managers and investment funds. The BVI has responded with criticism on the paper.
With an asymmetric risk profile and the possibility to exchange bonds into equity, convertible bonds offer opportunities in different markets. Still, Absolute Research advises investors to invest via an asset manager.
MSCI has announced the launch of MSCI ESG Research’s next product, MSCI ESG Ratings, designed to provide an in-depth, integrated look at each of the three ESG components.
Prestel & Partner invites to the Family Office Forum on 15th and 16th September in London. On the event for English based family offices, more than 100 family offices, principals and CIOs meet.
Deutsche Börse has announced to launch a joint venture with Shanghai Stock Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange to develop Chinese financial instruments for international investors.
German venture capitalists have invested 1.5 billion Euro in 2014. Despite a growth of one third in VC investments, the gap between German and US venture capital investments grew to a new record.
Investors have stopped being overly optimistic about Germany’s economic prospects. Investor sentiment pointed downward for the second month in a row, says ZWE. The purchasing manager index is falling as well.
Three of four investors use ETFs to adjust their portfolios tactically. This is one of the results of a survey from Source UK Services Limited.
ETF Securities is inviting you to the webinar “Energy Wars: Has OPEC Won?” on June 8. The event will deal with the OPEC meeting on June 5 and it’s effect on the global oil production and price.
The Obama administrations warns that hedge funds are a weak link of the US financial system’s defence against hackers and terrorists. The Department of Justice pressures hedge funds to improve cyber security.
Within just four months, ETFs have received net inflows of over 100 billion USD. This benchmark has been exceed at the end of April, says FundResearch based on Deutsche Bank statistics.
Vicenda Asset Management has cooperatively with LRI Investment launched a new securitisation platform as well as the first compartment of it that buys physical gas, stores it and sells it using forward sales to make profits.
According to ETF GI, ETFs have reached assets under management of 2.926 trillion USD at the end of the first quarter and thus nearly as much as managed in hedge funds. They expect that ETFs will soon overtake hedge funds in terms of AuM.
The Commerzbank annual general meeting has elected Anja Mikus to the supervisory board.
Saudi Arabia is giving foreign investors access to their stock markets and allows foreign direct investments starting from June 15. This could trigger inflows of $40 billion.
According to PwC’s MoneyTree Report, venture capital grew by 61% from 2013 to 2014. The software industry received most of the money invested by VC funds in start-ups in 2014.
ETF Securities and Lombard Odier Investment Managers have listed their first joined fixed-income-ETFs at the London Stock Exchange. The smart-beta products are available in Germany as well.
Speed Dating: Projects, Power Plants and Investments 4&5 May 2015, Zurich – Half-hour meetings between top management from financially-strong investors, utility, project developers and providers of investment opportunities. Focus are European wind-, solar-, and hydro power projects and plants.
Websites that are mobile friendly will gain in Google’s search rankings after the implementation of the new algorithm. altii was designed from the outset consistently for mobile devices and welcomes this expected and important step.
The majority of private investors is optimistic that the performance of their portfolios in 2015 is even better than in 2014. Still, secure investments are preferred by most of them, says a Natixis Global Asset Management survey.
German retail funds received net inflows of 9.4 billion Euro in February and face the strongest inflows within eight years. Overall, the German fund industry received 20.5 billion Euro from investors.
We4Startups and SVForum are delighted to present an exciting event: Top Startups from the Heart of Europe Pitching to Silicon Valley Investors at GSVlabs in Redwood City, California, on Thursday, April 23rd.
The S4A EU Pure Equity celebrated it’s second birthday on April 2. In the two years since the fund’s launch, it has gained 50 percent return and top placements in ranking.
Investments of venture capital firms have reached a new high in the first quarter. While the number of firms receiving money from VC funds declined, average deal size increased.
The IMF claims that even simple investment funds as mutual funds and ETFs pose risks to the financial systems and regulators need to supervise the asset management industry more.
Commerzbank is proposing Anja Mikus, CIO at Arabesque, as a new member of their board of directors. The elections is going to take place at their AGM on April 30.
At the end of March, the SEC has announced the rules that legalise and regulate crowdfunding and allow start-ups to raise massive amounts form everybody. Does this make early stage VC-funds redundant?
Join the Prestel & Partner Family Office Forum in Wiesbaden on April 27th to 29th. More than 160 Family Offices, UHNWI and experts meet to network and learn from each other.
Besides equity from developed economies, institutional investors are favouring commodities as an asset class. This are results of a survey pursued by ETF Securities.
The FSB and IOSCO want to regulate shadow banks. In order to enhance the regulation of non-banks including asset management companies and investment funds, a proposal of both institutions is discussed now.
During this month, a couple of new funds joined the altii Fundsportal: A new ETF on the robotics industry from ETF Securities, three new funds from veNova and a ACATIS fund.
As the first German asset manager, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management is permitted a licence to invest on Chinese financial markets, says DeAWM on Friday.
According to Bloomberg, hedge funds are exiting gold on the large scale. This is due to the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting and the report on that meeting published today. Investors speculate on rising interest rates in the near future.
According to Deutsche Bank Research’s “Europe Monthly ETF Market Review”, 48.1 Billion USD were invested globally in ETPs during February. Equity-ETFs saw especially high inflows; the US-market was very strong.
According to eVestment, all major hedge funds strategies achieved positive returns in February. Activist hedge funds lead performance charts while managed futures lagged behind.
Markets in developed economies have performed very well over the past years and outperformed their emerging counterparts. Due to high valuations in developed markets, some asset managers believe that investing in emerging markets is an attractive alternative.
According to a Deutsche Bank survey, hedge funds failed to meet investors' exceptions during the last year. Still, investors keep investing money into hedge funds at the beginning of this year.
ETF Securities is inviting you to their webinar „Energy Wars: Battle of Technologies“ on March 17. The event will deal with the effects of the oil price drop on US shale oil investments.
According to the latest Morningstar statistics, Eurozone Equity-ETFs have received record inflows after the ECB announcement to start a QE-program within this month at the beginning of this year.
Assets managed in activist hedge funds have six-folded within the last ten years to $120 billion, shows data of the Alternative Investment Management Association from last week. Here more about their study.
According to AXA IM, German insurance companies and pension funds want to increase their exposure to small caps due to growth potential and diversification.
Due to performance gains and asset inflows, assets under management of hedge funds have increased by 0.22 percent in Januar increasing the industry’s total AuM to 3.033 trillion USD, says eVestment.
A couple of new ETFs were published this week: A USD-hedged ETF on European equities and a multi-asset ETF from UBS as well as a smart-beta ETF from Ossiam.
After the financial crisis, regulation gained momentum: The German Investment Funds Association BVI counts 98 regulatory changes within the last six years. The associations says most of them are positiv but demands not to implement further rules for some time.
According to the latest BVI statistics, funds are well liked among German investors due to low interest rates. Assets under Management within the German funds industry have therefore reached 2382 billion Euro.
Natixis Global AM says in their study “Global Retirement Index 2015” that developed and emerging countries are getting more difficulties when securing their retirement systems. Asset managers should thus provide the right products.
The EU’s plan to invest 315 billion Euro in infrastructure may be a chance for insurance companies to participate in long-term projects and achieve substantial returns in times of low interest rates. A win-win-situation is possible.
Assets under Management in alternative UCITS have grow in the past year by 41 percent to 224.3 billion Euro, says Alceda. The grow in this market segment is expected to continue.
2015 is, according to a Moody’s paper, a year full of challenges for the German life insurance market. Low interest rates, the ECB’s QE-program as well as regulatory changes could drive small insurers out of business.
The hedge fund industry is optimistic: Managers are expecting high inflows if they can communicate the usefulness of their asset class. More about the findings of a State Street survey here.
According to Deutsche Bank Research, assets invested in ETFs have reached $2.64 trillion in 2014 due to record inflows. According to their paper, ETF assets will surpass the $3 trillion milestone within this year.
Over the past ten years, hedge funds have made about $1.5 trillion for their investors after fees, says the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).
The US Exchange Traded Fund Industry has hit the $2 trillion of assets under management last year. Still, studies expect the ETF market to hit $5 trillion by 2020.
Investors switch from passive to active ETFs due to increasing volatility on the markets and the wish for a manager’s guidance. A total of $17 billion is now invested in active ETFs.
SEC officials say that private equity firms, which where subject to investigations three years ago, have fixed the most important deficiencies but their transparency could still be improved.
In 2014, US hedge funds have received net inflows not seen within the last seven years. The overall industry size is now close to $3 trillion, says hedge fund trackers HFR on Tuesday.
Currency speculators, global macro hedge funds and banks with short position in the Swiss Franc face massive losses after the SNB announced to remove the cap on their currency against the Euro.
Due to increasing start-up valuations and a record of venture-backed IPOs, investors got attracted to venture capital investments. VC-funds have received outstanding sums last year.
For hedge funds, 2014 was not a good year: Regardless of the index you look at, hedge funds have not outperformed the market. Due to decreasing investments, 904 hedge funds had to close last year.
Bill Gross, the former manager of the world’s largest bond fund, says that the prices for many assets will fall because low interest rates cannot lead to increasing economic growth.
Many investors believe that actively managed funds under-perform passive products that just replicate an index. A new study shows: A greater trading activity of a fund is increasing its performance.
According to a Natixis Global Asset Management survey, institutional investors believe to meet performance expectation using alternative investments despite a difficult investment environment.
The conflict between US hedge funds and Argentina seems to be solvable now as the RUFO paragraph in restructured bonds expired.
The Federal Reserve has a Christmas present for banks: Wall Street banks have more time for the divestment of hedge fund and private equity investments.
The General Assembly of the United Nations has voted for the development of supranational rules regulating the restructuring of external sovereign debt.
Hedge funds using automated trading systems have performed very well in November. Overall, they are more profitable than many human asset managers, says Bloomberg.
DeAWM has asked in a survey, what investors care about when investing in alternative investments and depending on which criteria they chose investments.
Within the group of hedge funds, which made just 0.3 percent last month, global macro funds have been the best performing strategy with 1.7 percent performance. This is still below the average market performance.
The financial markets seem to be interested in India again. More investments have been made in Indian stocks than in any other emerging market ones. India’s turnaround seems to have taken place.
Investors are disappointed by hedge fund performances and reduce their investments in hedge funds. This has increased hedge fund closures to the highest number since the financial crisis.
Several members of the US-Investors-Organisation AOI demand that performance fees are only payable if hedge funds exceeds their benchmarks or minimum returns.
ETFs investing in equities have gained inflows within the last months. On the other hand gold and bond products faced outflows.
Singapore is going to surpass Switzerland as the global centre for wealth and asset management for high-net-worth individuals.
The alternative UK property investment market will grow to 20 billion GBP by 2019 according to property investment agents Jones Lang LaSalle.
The British insurance company Aviva shuts down its unit investing in external hedge funds, said the company on Wednesday.
MSCI announced a global index measuring the investment performance of infrastructure projects based on USD $49 billion of infrastructure investments.
After a hearing of two experts in front of a Senate committee on Friday where banks’ activities in commodities where questioned, the Fed wants to review its regulatory policies regarding commodity trades.
The swiss investment firm Strategic Capital Management (SCM) is taken over by the Mercer Group. The whole investment team of SCM switches to Mercer to strengthen their position in alternative investments.
State Street has sold it’s entire hedge funds business within a Management Buyout to their leading employees. At the end of 2013, the sold hedge funds were managing 1.4 Billion USD.
The G20 decided on this weekends summit in Australia on additional investments of $2 trillion in infrastructure, trade and climate protection.
The G20 will discuss about the regulation of shadow banks like hedge funds and money market funds on their next summit this weekend.
The swiss fund association SFAMA advices investors to invest more in alternative investments like hedge funds and private equity.
The Winkelvoss brothers’ bitcoin ETF is still under review of the SEC. If it gets approval, a broad basis of investors could invest in bitcoins but how does the ETF work?
On Thursday, Eaton Vance has announced that the SEC has approved its filling for a new type of ETF that does not disclose its holdings. This means, that non-transparent ETFs can be issued if they can be traded at net asset value.
Due to the Volcker-rule that forces US-Banks to reduce their investments in private equity and hege funds below three percent of their tier one capital, they need to exit such products.
Absolute-return funds gain capital of about 20 billion Euro within the first six months of the year. A study of Lupus Alpha shows, that the majority of funds actually achieves positive returns.
During the last years and especially within the last months, investors were pulling out money from actively managed funds and invested in index-linked funds and ETFs. Reasons are to high fees and a lack of performance.
After Chinese hedge funds are acting in a legal grey area, new laws are announced that will clear uncertainties. It is expected, that this changes will double assets under management within the next three years.
Alternative exchange traded products gain more funds as investors seek to diversify their portfolios and reduce exposure to fixed income and equity markets.
Hedge funds have started to set up own reinsurance companies on a broader basis in order to use the premiums to invest them in high-yielding strategies.
According to a survey published by Fidelity, institutional investors are optimistic about the future and have trust in the markets.
Since the 15. October, private Investors from Germany and Austria are able to invest in the Franklin K2 Alternative Strategies Fund.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not allowing hybride forms of exchange traded fund (ETF) and standard mutual funds. Transparecy issues are not solved properly.
At the beginning of the week, Germany and France announced after a meeting of their finance and economic ministers that they will develop a plan to boost their economies until Dezember.
The Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index lost just 0.01% in September while the S&P 500 fell by about 1.5%. Hedge funds did not make any profit but outperformed the stock market.
Smart-beta approaches promise to deliver above-market returns at an indexlike pricing. Despite some criticism, smart-beta products gain popularity among institutional investors.
Since the Fed announcements about tapering, emerging markets stocks have under-performed the S&P500 and their currencies have devalued against the USD. Both are signs that investors exit those markets but is this really needed?
Regulators are now focussing on shadow banks. New rules are going to make it more expensive for hedge funds and insurance companies to raise money in refinancing transactions.
The SEC is making key decisions about ETFs during this and the next month. This could expand the marketplace and increase the number of firms offering exchange traded products.
The European Commission is going to publish a new set of rules to make infrastructure investments more attractive, says Klaus Wiedner, the head of the insurance and pensions unit in the commission’s financial-service department, according to Bloomberg.
The IMF has cut down the estimate for Germany’s economic growth to 1.4% this year and 1.5% nest year due to geopolitical aspects. In their revised economic outlook, they have cut growth estimates for the whole world.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is not going to cut interest rates any further. Instead, the ECB will start to buy low quality assets in order to enhance Europe’s economic growth.
Societe General says in a report from Wednesday that emerging markets are in panic mode because the percentage of investors positively thinking about their development reduced continuously.
Many German asset managers want to invest in infrastructure projects due to low returns on other investment opportunities. Still, investors are not finding good projects.
The IMF advices countries, especially the US and Germany, to spend more on public infrastructure in order to enable long-term economic growth.
Investors are more interested in dividend ETFs. They have already invested additional $8 billion in those products during the year. Of special interest are products paying monthly dividends.
German economic minster, Sigmar Gabriel, said in an interview yesterday, that the German economy may not growth by the 1.8% government forecast.
In a paper published by Goldman Sachs, Andrew Wilson, CEO of the EMEA region at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says, he would prefer interest rate increases sooner than later.
After the G20 finance minister summit, more details about their plans to increase infrastructure investments have been published.
According to a Northern Trust Asset Management survey, many institutional investors are lacking a clear understanding of risk factors across their equity portfolios.
New renewable energy projects may be stalled due to more competitive pricing and especially regulatory and policy uncertainty, says the International Energy Agency.
According to a Credit Suisse report published on Monday, event driven hedge funds are performing best in this year. On average, all hedge fund earned about 3.4% during this year. Only two strategies have negative returns.
According to Reuters, the biggest US pension fund Calpers will no longer invest in hedge funds. The investment of 4 billion dollar into hedge funds made by the pension fund will be reallocated.
The German government is working on new regulation regarding infrastructure investments in order to allow more partnerships of the government and private investors for the financing of infrastructure projects.
The United Nations decided to work on an framework setting rules for the default of countries. The UN framework will especially deal with the restructuring of sovereign debt. This is a reaction on the default of Argentina.
The US Security and Exchange Commission prepares, according to the Wall Street Journal, new rules to boost oversight of mutual funds and hedge funds. This is part of a program investigating whether the asset management industry increases risks in the financial system.
The State Street Investor Confidence Index rises in August by 7.2 points to 122.8 points. This shows the rising optimism of institutional investors.
The ECB confirmed to begin the purchase of ABS in October. This is done to facilitate credit flows into the euro-zone economy. Furthermore, interest rates were decreased.
According to an S&P report, infrastructure investments do not meet the expectations of investors regarding their risk-return profile. Political and economic risks as well as regulations and a weak credit culture are deterring investors.
The ICMA advices countries to use clauses in bonds that allow them to restructure their debt if a majority of investors agrees to this.
The 11th Global Alternatives Survey from Tower Waters was published. According to the study, assets under management in alternative assets grew by 6% to 5.7 trillion USD in 2013.
German insurance companies said that they may back a government call to invest about 7 billion Euro to cover the financing of German infrastructure investments in bridges and roads.
iShares is going to close 18 ETFs due to a lack of investor interest. Pimco is going to do the same and will liquidate four funds.
According to Reuters, the twenty largest industrial and emerging economies are planning to allow regulators to control fund manager’s operations in crisis situations.
According to an regulatory statement, the UBS hedge fund O’Connor LLC was selling nearly all of it’s american real estate investment trusts in the last quarter.
The improving conditions for soy bean growing and the upcoming record harvest in the US, worlds largest producer, made money managers go short in soy beans for five weeks in a row. This is the longest sequence since 2006.
During this year emerging markets and frontier markets are performing well due to the following reasons.
Germany’s economic growth fell in the second quarter of this year by 0.2% compared to the previous quarter. Experts say that this is the effect of geopolitical effects in the short term but also upcoming structural problems in the long term.
According to Agecroft Partners, inflows in hedge funds after the financial crisis in 2007/2008 concentrate at a small number of different funds with a high reputation.
According to a survey of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, geopolitical risks is the number one concern for about half of all investors.
According to a study from McKinsey & Co published last week, hedge funds, private equity firms and other alternative investments will receive up to 40% of the revenues made in the asset management industry by 2020.
Infrastructure investments are popular due to many advantages as attractive returns, security against inflation, reliable cash flows and low correlation with other asset classes but increasing interest rates are a risk for their returns.
Five of Switzerland’s largest pension funds are behind a new infrastructure investment platform, structured as an evergreen, which had its first closing at CHF 300m (€ 247m) with a substantially higher target volume.
Convoy Investment LLC, a global macro hedge fund, is going to apply another fee structure to their fund and differ from the established performance fee.
Commodity ETFs (exchange traded funds) are an easy way to invest in commodities without physically purchasing the underlying.
Emerging markets are more afraid of interest rate policy changes by the FED than of any other thread due to possible pressure on their currencies and debt.
Investors divest from futures and invest that money into ETFs in order to save money and achieve comparable returns.
Some experts say that the M&A market is overstretched. Due to the high share prices and the low interest rate, a lot of expensive M&A deals are pursued that do not enhance corporate growth.
While banks face issues as scandals, low margins and a sharp regulatory climate, most stop or sell their physical commodity trading departments.
Managed futures are delivering the worst performance of all alternative investment classes.
Emerging market ETFs gained a capital inflow of $109 million during this year. While they lost $13.9 billion in the first two months of 2014, investors are returning to exchange traded products investing in emerging markets.
Deutsche Bank and Barclays helped 13 hedge funds to avoid paying billions of taxes during a 15 year period, says a US Senate’s subcommittee investigation.
Beside returns close or even below market benchmarks, institutional investors are still willing to allocate money towards hedge funds.
Short ETFs, or inverse or bear ETFs, are exchange traded products that hold a short position in an underlying index. They profit if the index declines in price.
A timeline of the Argentina debt crisis including the most important dates as well as some background information and possible outcomes and their effects.
The SEC is investigating in 44 investment firms due to a possible violation of insider trading laws concerning the purchase of shares of health insurances before a government announcement in April 2013.
A short roundup of what institutional investors and asset managers have been investing in and divesting from during the last months.
Investors look for a more institutional business model of hedge funds. According to a Deutsche Bank study, hedge funds will face “challenges in regulatory, reputational, business and operational risks, in addition to delivering returns”.
After negative performance of hedge funds in March and April, average hedge fund performance in May was at 1.00%. Event driven strategies performed best with 2.66%.
Blackstone, today’s largest investor in hedge funds already, is going to manage an own hedge fund for the first time.
Despite the bullish stock market in the last five years and concerns about the valuation of equity, ETFs investing in equities were the most popular ones among all ETFs.
As the US Department for Commerce stated yesterday (June 25, 2014) the US GDP fell by three percent during the first quarter of 2014.
After reaching an all time high in April already, the value of total assets managed by hedge funds increases in May again.
Hedge funds got more bullish on sugar before prices climbed to the highest since October as dry weather threatened supply from India to Brazil.
US hedge funds have been under stealthy attacks from cyber-criminals intent on intercepting trading strategies in order to profit from front-running and other illicit maneuvers.
Inflation is finally happening, and the Fed will end up being behind the curve.
A decade ago, investors were still trying to figure out how to use the first bond ETFs. Three iShares Treasury ETFs and one iShares investment-grade ETF launched in July 2002. Now there are more than 265 bond ETFs and assets exceed $275 billion.
Investors increased requests to pull money out of hedge funds in June as they adjust positions before the end of the quarter, according to data released on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that he is expecting strong economic data for the second half of this year.