Family Office Elite Spring_16

Wealth Management (formerly
known as Credit Agricole Private
Banking) put the emphasis on two
identifying themes: aging and
innovation. He also insisted on the
fact that we need to be modest, as
we cannot predict what the future
will hold: “We need to create a
portfolio which will allow us to
survive”.
The third participant, Lionel Balle,
Head of Fixed Income, Kredietrust
Luxembourg, started his speech
with the following “Bond is not
dead, but it surely needs a new
investment philosophy”. He is
also keen on relying on alternative
asset classes: real estate, hedge
funds, and private equity. Lionel
Balle, therefore, suggested
trusting companies that explore
investments outside of Europe
and the US.
Two workshop sessions followed
this inspiring discussion. Cyrille
Geneslay, Balanced Portfolio
Manager, CPR AM addressed
the following topic: “Capturing
opportunities while navigating
uncertainty”. Serge Pizem, Global
Head of Multi-Asset Investments,
AXA IM lead a workshop entitled
“Succeeding In A Volatile World”
and Sasho Bogoevski, Managing
Director, Multi Asset Solutions, AB,
discussed the “Factor Premiums
within Client Solutions” with the
participants.
Then, Julie Dickson, Investment
Specialist, Capital Group,
conducted a workshop a discussion
on “Investments without borders”,
Nick Sheridan, Manager of the
Henderson Horizon Euroland
Fund, Henderson Global Investors,
asked the following question to
the audience: “Is there still value
in European Equities?”. Finally,
Bernard Lalière, Head of High Yield
Bonds, Degroof Petercam Asset
Management, lead a workshop
entitled “Investing in high yields
bonds, an attractive solution in a
low yield environment”.
Technology can help getting
closer to the client The secondpanel
session, moderated by
Carlo Duprel, Director, Deloitte
Luxembourg, focused on the
impact of technology and customer
centricity on the asset management
sector. Alexey Yeremenko, Head of
Fixed Income, EWUB, then raised
the following question: “To what
extend will robo-advisors, and
algorithmic platforms impact
the value chain and create a new
ecosystem of players?”. On Big
Data and Blockchain, Maxime Aerts,
COO of Fundsquare added: “Today
Big Data is used to ensure the
quality and comprehensiveness of
information at the beginning of the
investment process”.
Economic & Policy challenges for
2016. The afternoon started with
the speech of Etienne de Callataÿ,
Chief Economist at Université de
Namur and UCL on “the European
gap”. He started his presentation
with a question: is it an issue or a
non-issue? In the latest predictions
by renowned economists and the
IMF, the European risk is nowhere
to be found. But what will happen
in the US and China will necessarily
impact Europe. So far, the ECB has
been doing the job: wages are up,
employment rates are higher and
so is the GDP, but it needs to go
further: “the ECB is not short on
ammunition, but we won’t agree
on where/how to use it” said Mr.
de Callataÿ. Plus, macroeconomic
imbalances and policy issues will
be the hot topics of tomorrow.
Brexit should also make things
more difficult and the weakening of
Germany, with the current migrants
situation, are some of the bad news
of 2016… Here again, modesty is
one of the keys.
Wilfrid Galand, Directeur du
Conseil en Investissements, Banque
Neuflize OBC, then addressed
different political risks: China trying
to add new borders, the oil situation
in the Middle East, and closer to us,
the possible end of Schengen which
will strongly impact commerce
and growth in the years to come,
and, Brexit, again. A Q&A session
moderated by Hans Bevers, Chief
Economist, Bank Degroof Petercam,
where the role of central banks was
discussed along with the situation
in China and the US.
The event ended with one last
workshop session: T. Rowe Prince
International, with Leigh Innes,
Portfolio Specialist, Emerging
Markets Equities, addressed the
topic of “US Growth opportunities
outside FANG”, Francesco Spadaccia
CFA, Portfolio Manager, Crédit
Suisse, lead a workshop on “Credit
Suisse Reddito – Stellar Allocation
Fund – Balanced Investment
Strategy”. Yves Duponselle
and Giancarlo d’Elia, from Xeon
International, talked about Social
Responsible Investments “made in
Luxembourg.”
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