News & Knowledge

2020, 22 September

Investing in utilities

At Kempen, integrating ESG criteria is an integral part of all our investment processes. This can manifest itself in what are on the face of it some surprising ways. Our high-dividend equity strategies, for example, have significant exposure to high-dividend payers in the utilities sector, which have long been major polluters.

2020, 14 September

Asset Allocation Outlook September

August is traditionally a month in which little happens on the financial markets. According to market wisdom there’s no point in coming back until September, but this year was an exception to the rule. The MSCI global equity index posted a gain of 6.0%. Japanese equities rose in price by as much as 8.2%, followed by US equities at 7.0%, with European equities and emerging market equities lagging far behind with pluses of 3.4% and 2.1%. The positive climate for risky assets led to tighter spreads on Southern European government bonds, Investment Grade and High Yield credits and emerging market debt.

2020, 13 August

PRI awards Kempen with an ‘A+’ and ‘A’

Every year Kempen submits to PRI its report about the integration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors into the responsible investment process. This year, PRI awarded our responsible investment process with scores of ‘A’ and ‘A+’, four modules each, where Strategy & Governance fell into the A+ score category.

2020, 12 August

Asset Allocation Outlook August

Markets were reasonably calm in July. The level of volatility declined on the equity markets, while capital market yields remained low thanks to the highly expansionary monetary policies. Spreads on bonds issued by southern European countries, credits and emerging market debt tightened. On balance July was certainly not a spectacular month, but it was positive for the risky asset classes. Positive news on stimulatory monetary and fiscal policies, improved economic data and better-than-expected corporate earnings were interspersed with concerns about the coronavirus. We have made no adjustments to our investment policy. We believe that equities are pricing in an excessively positive scenario and prefer high yield credits.

2020, 11 August

Kempen Real Estate: Sustainable Funds Market Briefing

Egbert Nijmeijer, co-head of Global Listed Real estate, presenting on 30th July at Investment week's Sustainable Virtual Market Briefing. In this presentation, we address four key questions.

2020, 07 August

Kempen's Commentary

It’s holiday time, and the coronavirus has forced many families to cancel or change their plans for this season. There is much debate among economists as to whether the corona crisis is inflationary or deflationary. It’s especially inflationary for holiday homes in the Netherlands. I heard that many houses are fully booked and prices are skyrocketing.

2020, 21 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 data analytic tools that vastly improve our Credit team’s investment process.

2020, 10 July

Kempen's Commentary

Last week, Trump declared the coronavirus defeated. In turn, the Chinese labelled the stock market rally as a ‘healthy bull market’. And look, when I write this column, investors are swallowing it all. Share prices rise again quickly, the letter ‘V’ rules: Victory over the Virus, a V-shaped economic recovery and regularly flickering hopes for a Vaccine.

2020, 09 July

Asset Allocation Outlook July

In June, investors were confronted with the conflicting impact of an improved outlook and a sharp increase in the number of new coronavirus cases around the world. Optimism prevailed in the end; the MSCI Global Equity Index gained 2.5% and spreads on investment grade and high yield credits and emerging market debt tightened. Yields on long and short-term government bonds barely moved. The optimism was mainly felt in the first week of June.

2020, 01 July

Kempen's Commentary

Our generation goes through two important transitions, digital and sustainable. These long-term transitions are not merely an economic phenomenon. They affect the whole system and the entire structure of society. In order to be successful companies, regulators and society alike have to be aligned. This is now happening at an accelerated pace as a result of the pandemic.

2020, 30 June

Kempen Insights: Speeding up technological change

We’ve all been forced into new ways of working recently, but what will be the long-term impact of technology on client relationships in the investment sector? Here, Arif Saad, Senior Investment Strategist at Kempen, gives us some personal insights into how technology has had an impact on the way we do business, and how it might change in the future.

2020, 12 June

Kempen's Commentary

As I write this, Christine Lagarde is having another press conference. The ECB has just surpassed market expectations, which doesn’t happen too often. The Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program will be expanded (from € 750 billion to € 1,350 billion) and extended (at least until July 2021). The amounts don’t even reel our heads anymore. And the profits from the purchased bonds will continue to be reinvested until at least the end of 2022.

2020, 12 June

Asset Allocation Outlook June

May was another positive month for risky investments. Equities climbed by 4% worldwide, with gains mostly being noted in industrialised nations. Spreads on credits tightened further, especially in the high yield asset classes. Yields on emerging market debt also fell. Government bonds were largely unaffected by the positive performance of risky investments. In the US, 10-year government bond yields remained more or less unchanged, while in Germany they rose by 14 basis points. Spreads on Italian and Spanish government bonds narrowed. The positive trends on the financial markets were mainly the result of the stabilisation or decrease in the number of active corona cases, but also the enormous stimuli from central banks and governments. We have increased the risk exposure in our investment policy marginally by buying high yield European credits. Our slight underweight in equities has been maintained.

2020, 07 September

Van Lanschot Kempen appoints Jeroen Berns Head of Kempen Merchant Banking

Van Lanschot Kempen announces today that Jeroen Berns will be appointed as Head of Kempen Merchant Banking per 14 September. The activities of Merchant Banking include Corporate Finance, Equity Capital Markets and Securities.

2020, 03 September

Kempen launches sustainable dividend fund

Today, Kempen Capital Management (Kempen) will launch the Kempen Sustainable Global High Dividend Fund. The introduction of this new fund represents an important addition to the current range of dividend products that Kempen has to offer in the market. This sustainable dividend solution is created in collaboration with our clients, who are looking for direct income in a more sustainable investment world.

2020, 01 September

Van Lanschot Kempen appoints Erik van Houwelingen to Executive Board

Van Lanschot Kempen announced today that Erik van Houwelingen will join its Executive Board per 15 November. Erik will be responsible for Asset Management, one of Van Lanschot Kempen’s core activities, and he will also take on the chair of the Board of Kempen Capital Management, subject to regulatory approval. Erik van Houwelingen succeeds Leni Boeren, who stepped down earlier this year.

2020, 27 August

Three years of Kempen (Lux) Euro High Yield Fund

This year, the Kempen (Lux) Euro High Yield Fund of Kempen Capital Management (Kempen) celebrates its third anniversary. This milestone coincides with the achievement of a total of € 250 million in assets under management. The high yield fund further expanded the range of corporate bond funds within Kempen, and contributed to the strengthening of Kempen’s credit expertise. The average annual return of the fund over this period of time stands at 3.0% as compared with 1.9% for the benchmark*.