| BIL partners with CANDRIAM for the development of its ESG services | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-partners-with-CANDRIAM-for-the-development-of-its-ESG-services.aspx | BIL partners with CANDRIAM for the development of its ESG services | | <p>Our planet is increasingly exposed to the unpredictable consequences of climate change and the depletion of natural resources. The investment needed to reach the targets set in the Paris Agreements for 2030 is considerable, and public investment will not be enough.</p>
<p>The finance industry has a decisive role to play in chanelling investments that, as well as generating a return, will help in the pursuit of environmental and social goals. In addition to financial data, asset management companies and financial advisors must incorporate ESG factors into their analysis, and present this clearly to their clients. This is a sizeable challenge for the industry given the huge increase in data volumes and the lack of standards.</p>
<p>As a responsible bank, BIL is committed to sustainable finance. To improve its offering, the bank has partnered with CANDRIAM, a leader in this field. The partnership will give access to CANDRIAM’s ESG expertise: proprietary data, training and advice. With better visibility over, and a greater ability to measure, ESG factors, BIL will be better equipped to reflect them in its investment decisions and in the products and services that it offers its clients.</p>
<p>Alessandra Simonelli, Head of Sustainable Development at BIL, said: “<i>We believe that banks have a key role to play in fighting climate change. By providing clients with clear information on the sustainability of our products, and by developing our ESG range, we will be contributing to this. We felt it essential to join forces with a partner like CANDRIAM whose core business is based on combining fundamental analysis with use of ESG data.</i>”</p>
<p>David Czupryna, Head of ESG Development at CANDRIAM, added: “<i>Because they finance the personal and business projects of the future, banks have a key role to play in the transition towards a more sustainable world. CANDRIAM is proud and honoured to have been chosen to support BIL in its journey as a responsible bank. We will do everything we can to advise it and help make its long-term vision a reality.</i>”</p>
<p>CANDRIAM is one of the first signatories of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. For its assessment process, CANDRIAM employs a dedicated ESG research team, which examines companies’ ESG performance either in absolute terms or relative to industry peers, focusing on those ESG factors considered to be most significant.</p>
| 3/4/2021 11:00:00 AM | | |
| BIL investment Outlook for 2021 | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-investment-Outlook-for-2021.aspx | BIL investment Outlook for 2021 | | <p><b>An uneven recovery</b></p>
<p>“The global economy fell into one of the worst recessions last year, but this was caused by government imposed lockdowns, rather than being the result of an economic imbalance,” said Fredrik Skoglund, Chief Investment Officer at BIL. “For 2021, we envisage a recovery resembling a “Nike swoosh” – for which the precipitous drop in 2020 activity will be followed by a gradual normalization.”</p>
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<p>Winged by fiscal and monetary support, major financial markets across the world have largely rebounded, despite the ongoing economic crisis. BIL experts expect the recovery to be uneven from one country to another. Its speed will be dependent upon the success of government containment measures and vaccination roll out, and contingent upon continued policy support. At corporate level, two divergent paths are likely to occur: companies with a strong foothold in digitalization will benefit from the pandemic, companies whose business model have been turned upside down will not be able to operate at full capacity as long as social distancing is the modus operandi.</p>
<p>With public debt levels at record highs, policymakers could perhaps try to coax up inflation to offset some of the burden. This leaves central banks walking a tightrope: they want higher inflation, but they don’t want it to go too high, knowing how painful it could be to bring it down again. “ Monetary policy should continue to be easy in 2021 as the major central banks do not seem to have exhausted their policy jar,” explains Fredrik Skoglund. “ We expect 2021 to be a constructive year, one of rebuilding and of problem-solving, against a backdrop of ongoing policy support and strides towards inoculation.”</p>
<p><b>Diversification and long-term view</b></p>
<p>Equity markets are poised to benefit in such a context, and BIL experts expect slight upside, though much of this is already priced in. Investment style considerations will be important and investors must be prepared for an eventual value catch-up later during the year. With regard to sectors, a nuanced approach is warranted. The new digitalised reality ushered in by the pandemic means some companies will sink and some will swim within individual sectors. Selectivity to ensure the robustness of individual business models has never been more crucial.</p>
<p>With regards to fixed income, investors are hunting for yield and this should likely continue through 2021, with central banks almost certainly poised to keep interest rates lower for longer. According to BIL experts, investors should stay cognizant to the risks at hand. They should not get caught off guard by a modest uptick in inflation, since this is something central banks are clearly trying to conjure.</p>
<p>“Even after coronavirus subsides, its legacy will remain. The way we live has been irreversibly altered. Trends accelerated by the pandemic such as digitalisation are unlikely to fall into reverse, portfolios must be fine-tuned accordingly,” said Fredrik Skoglund. As disruptive as the pandemic has been, it may prove to be a drop in the ocean compared to the next challenge ahead of us: climate change. Concerted, coordinated global action is required. This will be resource intensive and every sector will have a role to play, especially the financial sector.</p>
<p>The Way We Live Now, BIL Investment Outlook 2021 is available on the <a href="https://www.bilinvestmentinsights.com/bil-investment-outlook-2021/" target="_blank">BIL Investment Insights blog</a> (also available in French, German and Dutch).</p> | 1/19/2021 3:00:00 PM | | |
| BIL Suisse appoints Hartmut Vollmer Head of Wealth Management Growth Markets and Tobias Kamber General Counsel | https://www.bil.com/en/bil-group/pressroom/news/Pages/BIL-Suisse-appoints-Hartmut-Vollmer-Head-of-Wealth-Management-Growth-Markets-and-Tobias-Kamber-General-Counsel.aspx | BIL Suisse appoints Hartmut Vollmer Head of Wealth Management Growth Markets and Tobias Kamber General Counsel | | <p>Hartmut Vollmer will join BIL Suisse as Head of Wealth Management Growth Markets which include China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East as of 1 April 2021. He will also become a member of BIL Suisse’ Executive Committee. Hartmut Vollmer joins BIL from Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) where he led the Eastern Europe team. He had been a member of the Bank’s Private Banking management committee since 2011. Prior to UBP, Hartmut Vollmer held management positions at ABN AMRO in Switzerland from 2000 to 2011.</p>
<p>Tobias Kamber will take on the role of General Counsel as of 1 January 2021. He will also become a member of BIL Suisse’ Executive Committee. Tobias Kamber has over 16 years of experience in legal, risk and compliance roles in the private banking sector in Switzerland and Hong Kong. Prior to joining BIL Suisse, he held the position of Deputy General Counsel Private Banking at Julius Baer and also headed the Private Banking legal team for Switzerland and the EMEA countries.Tobias Kamber started his career in the private banking sector in 2004 as Legal Counsel at Clariden Bank, prior to joining Julius Baer in 2007.</p>
<p>Hans-Peter Borgh, CEO of BIL Suisse and Group Head International, said: “<i>We continue to hold high growth ambitions for our business, and it was essential for us to strengthen our management team. Hartmut Vollmer and Tobias Kamber will bring invaluable experience and sharp expertise. We have made major high caliber recruitments in the past few months, reaching an important milestone. We are confident that with our strong team, we will take BIL Suisse to its next level of development.</i>”</p>
<p>BIL Suisse, one of the two main private banking hubs of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, drives the Group’s international wealth management activities. It focuses on serving private clients, many of whom are entrepreneurs, from Eastern Europe and CIS countries, China, the Middle East, and Western Europe. To meet its ambitious international growth plans and to better serve its clients, BIL Suisse recently recruited a number of high caliber talents.</p>
| 12/14/2020 10:00:00 AM | | |
