Geo-political uncertainty, changing fiscal policy and the evolution of global trade relationships will undoubtably drive the macro-economic agenda over the coming year. In this session, Michael Metcalfe will peel back the layers and explore who could be the winners and losers of 2025.

Just as Donald Trump claimed victory in the US Presidential Elections, the fragile state of Germany’s government was also grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons. As the coalition government acrimoniously collapsed and with elections expected to be held in February 2025, this timely session will discuss the political drivers behind the collapse and explore what it could mean for the euro zone’s economy and global competitiveness.

As the regulatory landscape evolves with European policy makers particularly focussed on competitiveness, financial stability, and resilience, this session will focus on prudential regulations such as Basel III, settlement efficiency and the move to T+1, as well as key regulatory reporting initiatives such as 10c1 and SFTR.

When institutional investors assess investment opportunities, a key consideration is the expected incremental return relative to the marginal risk, as well as the diversification benefits the investment might bring to the entire portfolio, with absolute returns only painting part of the picture.

In this insightful session, and through the lens of academia, Travis Whitmore will discuss recent research led by his team, analysing 15 years of various data sets, including anonymous and aggregated securities lending data, proprietary alternative data, and previous academic studies, to provide a holistic view of the risk-adjusted performance, diversification characteristics, and information held within the securities lending market.

This final session will draw upon many of the themes and threads of the earlier sessions, from the perspective of both buy and sell side practitioners. Against the backdrop of domestic instabilities and growing global competitiveness, they will consider, amongst other things, the holistic implications for the German asset management sector, as well as regulatory drivers such as Basel and T+1, and what they mean for domestic and global banks and institutions.

The ISLA Connects Networking Reception will be hosted within the same building at the NFT Skybar.

The invitation to the networking reception also extends to colleagues who are unable to attend the afternoon briefing but are able to join the networking event. Please RSVP by emailing events@islaemea.org.