News & Knowledge

2021, 09 September

Asset Allocation Outlook September

The mood on the equity markets remained positive in August. The MSCI global equity index closed the month up for the seventh time in a row (2.4% in US dollars) and the US S&P500 and European STOXX600 noted new record highs.

2021, 09 August

Asset Allocation Outlook August

Despite equity investors occasionally casting worried glances at the spread of the Delta variant, markets closed the month of July up. The MSCI World index climbed by 0.7% (in US dollars), mainly fuelled by developed markets. Emerging markets had a tougher time, with the MSCI Emerging Markets index down by 6.7% (also in US dollars).

2021, 15 July

Credit quarterly newsletter

Kempen’s Credit team immerses itself in the credit markets on a daily basis. As these markets can change rapidly, it’s vital for the team to be on top of all the latest developments, understand what’s going on and adjust its portfolios accordingly if necessary. The team receives regular enquiries from our clients about its views on the credit markets and where the best opportunities currently lie, so we publish a quarterly credit newsletter providing the team’s views on a topic of interest. In this edition, we talk about our approach 'alpha by control' and more specific how to generate alpha in a low-spread environment.

2021, 14 July

Asset Allocation Outlook July

We’re already halfway through 2021. At a total return in local currency of over 30%, commodities stand head and shoulders above the other asset classes. The positive climate for risky investments can clearly be seen from the difference between oil and gold. The oil price climbed by about 50%, while the price of gold fell by 8%. Equities also performed well.

2021, 13 July

Kempen Real Estate Update: 2021 – Turning up the volume, cutting through the noise

The rapid growth of responsible investing has been accompanied by a surge in the provision of ESG data, and it is big business, with over a billion dollars expected to be spent on ESG data points this year alone. Behind the scenes, ESG data providers are poring over reams and reams of data to score companies and portfolios, and to set benchmarks and standards in a nascent industry.

2021, 07 July

Global Impact Pool Quarterly

We are pleased to report on the first quarter of 2021 for Kempen’s Global Impact Pool, in which we continued to deploy capital towards the Global Impact Pool’s mission, which is to make investments that positively contribute to solving global problems around the food, water and climate nexus and five Sustainable Development Goals.

2021, 11 June

Asset Allocation Outlook June

Equity markets continued to trend upward in May, although in most cases the gains were modest at 1% to 2%. High forecasts for economic growth and earnings growth have already largely been priced in. Volatility of US and European markets dropped towards its lowest level since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

2021, 12 May

Asset Allocation Outlook May

April was a fairly calm month for financial markets. Equities climbed higher against a background of strong economic data and exceedingly robust earnings growth, with the S&P500 noting a new record high. Following the rapid increases of the preceding months, yields on US 10-year government bonds fell slightly, while those of their UK counterparts were in fact up slightly. Within commodities the oil price rose further, but what stood out most were the sharply higher prices of copper and the recovery in the gold price. Investors continue to focus on the risk of higher inflation, as well as capacity problems in the logistics chain and the manufacturing of microchips. We believe that, for the time being, strong economic growth and robust earnings growth are more than compensating for such concerns and therefore continue to be positive about equities.

2021, 16 April

Asset Allocation Outlook April

And all of a sudden, fears of rising interest rates just seemed to evaporate. While US 10-year government bond yields had already climbed to 1.7%, the S&P500 and EUROSTOXX 600 indices once again noted new record highs. This was against a background of rising new coronavirus cases, but also an acceleration in vaccination programmes and potential further fiscal stimulation in the US. Europe is now lagging behind in economic terms, but growth will pick up later this year. We continue to be positive about equities, primarily European equities. For bonds we view higher yields as a risk and are only positive about European high yield credits and emerging market debt listed in US dollars.

2021, 13 April

Kempen Real Estate Update: 2021 – No time to be passive

Despite its hugely progressive, efficient and vastly wealth creating characteristics, the modern capitalist model seems to struggle to deal effectively with externalities such as greenhouse gas “”GHG” driven pollution. These emissions are contributing to an unprecedented heating of the planet.

2021, 24 March

Global Impact Pool Quarterly

We are pleased to report on the fourth quarter of 2020 for Kempen’s Global Impact Pool, in which we continued to deploy capital towards the Global Impact Pool’s mission, which is to make investments that positively contribute to solving global problems around the food, water and climate nexus and five Sustainable Development Goals.

2021, 16 March

Asset Allocation Outlook March

Financial markets had only just got over the hurdles of stricter lockdowns, a muddled start to the vaccination programmes in Europe and the behaviour of US retail speculators when a new problem reared its head: rising interest rates. Last summer US government bond yields stood at just 0.5%, later moving towards 1%. Since the end of January, they have accelerated towards 1.5%. UK 10yr Gilt yields have risen by more than 0.6% so far in 2021 and German capital market yields climbed to -0.26%, their highest level since March last year.

2021, 11 March

White paper Equities: are the odds ever in your favour?

Equities form the bulk of many investors’ portfolios. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that they are also very volatile. Often, it’s hard to know if this is an accepted compromise for the end result, a positive for those that believe they can time markets, or just an unnecessary and avoidable risk.

2021, 09 September

Kempen announces fiduciary mandate win for Uniper UK DB Pension Scheme

Kempen Capital Management (Kempen), the asset and fiduciary manager, has completed the onboarding of a new GBP 570 million fiduciary management mandate for the Uniper UK DB pension scheme.

2021, 07 September

Kempen strengthens UK business development team with senior appointment

Kempen Capital Management (Kempen) is pleased to announce that Ian Penrose has joined the Business Development team in London as a Director of Business Development where he will focus specifically on the UK Wholesale market.

2021, 06 September

Kempen wins the Environmental Finance IMPACT Award 2021

Kempen’s Global Impact Pool wins the Environmental Finance IMPACT Award 2021 in the category Asset manager of the year: mid-size.

2021, 26 August

Van Lanschot Kempen: strong net profit of €58.3 million

Today, Van Lanschot Kempen released its results for the first half-year of 2021.