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A maturity fund meets a real need for investors: having a long-term return objective.

Edmond de Rothschild has hired three seasoned professionals to support the development of its Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) capabilities across Europe. Industry veterans DJ Dhananjai and Robbert Zoet join the group’s London office, respectively as Chief Investment Officer UK for Real Estate Investment Management and Head of Real Assets Distribution. Fabrice Lefevre-Sory joins the Paris office as Senior Real Assets sales.

As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged. Jerome Powell said markets would need to be patient as little progress had been made on the disinflation front since the beginning of the year, and especially not in services. But ...

The week’s PMI data provided confirmation of a manufacturing slowdown but suggested services would drive a recovery in the coming months.

The AT1¹ bond segment has been back in favour since end 2023, even if the long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Geopolitical risk mounted further in the Middle East after Iran made a direct strike on Israel over the weekend. Nobody wants the situation to escalate but there is a risk it could happen following Thursday night’s riposte against Iran.

After the previous week's indications of labour market resilience in the US, this week saw inflation proving sticky. March’s  CPI increased by 0.4% vs. 0.3% expected, the third month in a row in which it had come in hotter than consensus expectations.

The macroeconomic environment appears favourable for emerging sovereign and corporate bonds, which display robust fundamentals. The Fed’s policy pivot and a weakening dollar expected in 2024 could prompt investors looking for yield to return to the asset class.

Yield curve inversion has been around for almost two years, Europe is the theatre of a serious war, China is mired in deflation, globalisation is still stuck in a US-China trade conflict, rampant inflation has given way to a monetary shock and yet, even without a recession, risk assets have soared in today’s Goldilocks¹ environment.

Central banks have refocused markets on the pace of future rate cuts. Traders now only expect three cuts by the end of 2024 rather than the six they were hoping for in January. Some are even querying this new scenario: as a result, the dollar rose and real 10-year yields moved back to 2%.

Our infrastructure debt platform has been playing a key role in the energy transition for many years through the investments it makes.

Following comments from the Fed’s Christopher Waller that there was no rush to cut rates, investors are still unsure if the US rate-cutting cycle will start in June. It is certainly true that recent economic data, notably economic surprise indicators in various geographical zones, could encourage central banks to wait a little longer.