Q: Does an increasing number of [technology] disruptions shorten the cycle of disruptions?
“Yes. We are in a world that new trends keep coming in. but what is interesting is a lot of trends actually moving to the same direction. The disruptor power has amplified the advantage of the existing players in an industry.”
Ashish Kochar, co-manager of Threadneedle Global Extended Alpha Fund, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Q: Are emotional-driven risks part of your concerns when dealing with China’s equity markets?
“In 2015, everyone was scared of China. People were worried about the debt level of the country, of the state-owned companies, and they had questions about the banking and property sector. I argue that nothing has changed today other than data has improved since then. China is a very volatile market where retail investors easily get frustrated depending on what happens in the press.”
Christophe Machu, investment specialist at M&G Investments, manager of M&G (Lux) Dynamic Allocation Fund
Q: There are risks of internal fights and lack of transparency in family businesses across Europe. How have you dealt with them?
“In a stock market, there are rules about transparency and [listed] family businesses are not immune to them. In terms of internal conflicts, it happens before the listing. The stock market uses an objective way to find the price of a company. What happens then is that part of the family exits while the remaining interested party keeps the business and runs it for the long term.”
Jean Keller, CEO at Quaero Capital, manager of Quero Capital Funds (LUX) Smaller European Companies
