Allocation

The Executive Board of Norges Bank has decided to revoke the exclusion of Thoresen Thai Agencies PCL. The company has been excluded since 2018 due to its practice of sending decommissioned vessels to be broken up for scrap in Bangladesh, where working conditions are extremely poor.

The last decade has seen a growth bias among financial assets, one that has become entrenched in equity indices. At the same time, bonds seemingly shed much of their protective qualities, offering investors very little by way of diversification.

Investors should not expect everything to go ‘back to normal’ in 2023, says Melda Mergen, Global Head of Equities, Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Higher inflation and a weaker economic environment will mean not all companies will thrive.

New European research from behavioural finance experts Oxford Risk reveals that over 73% of wealth managers believe emotional decision-making costs investors investment returns.

European wealth managers’ net inflows are likely to decline in 2023 as inflation squeezes disposable income, Fitch Ratings says. However, the fall should be modest as most clients have fairly high disposable income, which will not be significantly eroded by higher living costs.