August was another positive month for the European ETF industry since promoters enjoyed inflows as economies and securities markets stabilized further after the coronavirus lockdown-induced economic downturn. The combination of above average inflows and the positive performance of underlying markets led to an increase in assets under management from €843.5 bn as of July 31,…
Looking at the actions taken by fund managers and promoters in Europe, it seems like sustainable investing or sustainability is the hot topic in the market. Nearly every company announces that they will or have integrated non-financial criteria into their investment processes or offer funds with a specific approach. On the other hand, it looks…
What is the pathway to freedom of movement for citizens of African countries? In part one, we made the sad finding that Africans are by far the worst affected by the European visa hurdle. Aside from having the highest rate of Schengen visa refusals, all countries in continental Africa are in the bottom 100 in terms…
European investors bought further back into mutual funds and ETFs in July. Since the global equity markets stabilized further, investors returned to long-term mutual funds because they expect the massive stimulus packages from central banks and governments globally to keep interest rates low and to foster global economic growth after the lockdowns caused by the…
The world is getting increasingly hard to navigate. And COVID has just added a new challenge to freedom of movement. But well before the pandemic, OECD countries had been for years tightening their requirements on the granting of visas to citizens from certain countries. The visa hurdle is a particularly harsh reality for African citizens…
As the security markets further recovered from the lockdown-induced downturn caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, June was another positive month for the European ETF industry. ETF promoters enjoyed inflows during the month. The combination of above average inflows and the positive performance of underlying markets led to an increase in assets under…
The growth of sustainable investing is constantly accelerating and can be seen as one of the most important growth drivers for the fund industry over the next few years. From my point of view, we may reach the breaking point where the majority of assets are managed with a sustainability-based approach rather than in a…
The events that took place this year taught us a lot. Even those of us who experienced the restrictions on traveling in the past, have long been accustomed to the fact that in modern reality, we are free to move around the world. For many people who are used to immediately solving their problems, the…
Property and real estate investments are in general considered as safe-haven investments because bricks and mortar are real assets which can survive a storm in the equity markets. This claim can be considered as true if an investor invests directly into property. But as fund managers try to optimize the return for their investors, this…
The global fund industry has come under pressure as asset managers have witnessed an increasing demand for ESG investments. An increasing number of investors want to make a positive impact on ecological and/or social goals with their investments. Therefore, they would need more transparency on the integration of ESG criteria within the portfolio management process,…