News & Knowledge

2019, 08 October

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 how the team integrates responsibility throughout its investment process.

2019, 04 October

Salomons' Judgement

Equity investors prefer safety above all else. They invest with cowardice. The summer of 2019 may go down in history as the bubble in risk aversion.

2019, 19 September

Salomons' Judgement

This column is not about Donald Trump’s battle to induce his central bank to lower the interest rates. It’s about the European Central Bank and its internal issues.

2019, 17 September

Global Impact Pool Quarterly

We are pleased to report on the second quarter of 2019 on 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.

2019, 05 September

Salomons' Judgement

The interest rate cut in August was explained by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as a preventive mid-cycle policy adjustment, due to concerns about the future of the economy. It would not be the start of a series of interest rate cuts, indicating the end of the economic cycle. However, I have my doubts whether a quarter of a percentage point less will suffice in that case.

2019, 22 August

Salomons' Judgement

Why does investing work in the long term? The famous bet by the American economist Paul Samuelson explains it best.

2019, 21 August

Asset Allocation update August

Concerns are mounting in financial markets. Is the global economy heading for a recession? If we look at global bond markets we see worrying signals. Interest rates fell off a cliff the past weeks, to an extent that the bond market appears to price in a recession in the near future. However, equity and credit markets are showing a different -more optimistic- picture.

2019, 19 August

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

Amsterdam, 19 August 2019- Every year the Kempen Responsible Investment Team annually reports to PRI (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment) about the integration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors into the responsible investment process. This year, PRI awarded our responsible investment process with an average score of ‘A’ and “A+” on three modules.

2019, 08 August

Private Markets Investor Letter

At the end of the second quarter, our participants have committed a total of EUR 98.7 million in capital to the Kempen Private Markets Fund. We have committed almost the same amount to ten partnerships and two direct co-investments – a well-diversified portfolio. In this quarter we allocated additional capital to three current investments in the portfolio, so that the allocations to the various categories are more in line with the target weights. We also saw a lot of activity at the underlying partnerships level and we are very satisfied with the build-up of the portfolio. All investments are focused on good value-creation strategies. We will elaborate on all of these topics in this quarterly report.

2019, 17 July

Asset Allocation update July

If we group fundamental trends into three categories – the economy, corporate earnings and interest rates – we find that equity markets have generated two of these three trends. Equity markets were therefore able to climb, with the global index up by a further 7.5% since the end of May, driven by the prospect of more expansionary monetary policies.

2019, 16 July

It is not easy being green

Our clients are increasingly seeking green or ESG flavoured strategies. We fully support this quest even though as our friend Kermit the Frog once said: “It is not easy being green”.

2019, 11 July

Salomons' Judgement

Why don’t companies invest? Because they see no growth? Perhaps. Because the need is missing? That’s more likely. But also, because they’re not rewarded for it by investors.

2019, 28 June

Salomons' Judgement

Everybody talks about a recession. Interest rates are looking for new record lows. It will be exciting. Keep a close eye on what companies and consumers do, rather than what they say.

2019, 10 September

International award for Living wage platform – PRI Active ownership project of the year

Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF), has won the international PRI (Principles for Responsible Investments) award for best initiative in the field of active ownership.

2019, 02 September

Appointment of Jaap Kuin and Pieter Runneboom to Kempen Securities

It is with pride that Kempen announces that Jaap Kuin and Pieter Runneboom will be joining the real estate research team of Kempen Securities.

2019, 27 August

Van Lanschot Kempen: net profit of over €83 million and capital return proposal

Van Lanschot Kempen today released its 2019 half-year results.

2019, 23 July

Kempen European Private Equity Fund acquires an interest in high-precision sheet metal processing company Wilvo Group.

Amsterdam, 23 July 2019. The Kempen European Private Equity Fund has acquired a significant direct interest in Wilvo Group B.V. (‘Wilvo Group’). Wilvo Group is a family business in the province of Brabant in the Netherlands that has evolved into a specialist in the processing of thin sheet metal and precision parts assembly.