The change in focus at the Fund Forum in Monaco last month was striking. At previous gatherings, the audience of European asset and wealth managers listened to panels highlighting ESG investments and emerging markets. But, in 2024, these once in-vogue topics have been replaced by geopolitics and artificial intelligence.
“Family offices have largely fallen out of love with emerging markets, due to underperformance of EM stocks — led by Chinese stocks — since 2021,” explained Edmund Shing, global chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, shortly after appearing on the opening panel of the Monte Carlo event.
Outperformance of US large-cap stocks also contributed to portfolio managers changing their allocations, as did heightened geopolitical risk around China and foreign exchange volatility in countries such as Turkey.