insights.

For Lombard Odier, there is a sustainability movement. The bank has completely reconfigured its asset management offering to integrate this new dimension and a main growth driver.

Brexit woes have long dominated the media agenda. Today’s outlook is far from clear and Mrs May’s deal certainly leaves a great deal to be desired. Is this more worrying than the financial crisis? One thing we know, this will bring economic, social and political risks to the UK and even further afield.

Venezuela’s hyperinflation and political unrest have attracted international attention, which increasingly points to a transition of power, in some form.

What does the latest Fed meeting mean for the US dollar and other currencies? While we maintain our bearish dollar view, we now believe that the risk is skewed towards a more rapid and steeper depreciation.

As AI gets smarter, fears are growing that computers may replicate humans and take over the world. But leading neuroscientist David Eagleman argues that since humans are constantly evolving we could be hard to replace.

A discussion of Blockchain’s potential, its disadvantages and some common misconceptions.

The UK’s Members of Parliament have voted on three key amendments to Prime minister’s deal. We analyse the main takeways and implications for sterling.

Brazil is going through some historic shifts since voters elected Jair Bolsonaro to lead Latin America’s biggest country for the next four years. Therefore, and in contrast to the equity market, the currency seems to have priced in very little, if anything, for reform implementation. In our view this provides scope for substantial gains in the event that Mr Bolsonaro delivers on his promises.

China is going through profound economic changes, challenging the status quo in technology companies amid trade tensions with the US that point to an even broader power struggle. 

Hear the thoughts and reflections from our Senior Managing Partner, Patrick Odier’s experience at Davos this year. It’s evident that the link between sustainability and business success is intrinsically linked. This is now more urgent than ever.

What’s at stake for investors in Q1 2019? Our newest video is out.

At Lombard Odier, sustainability is a question of performance. The world has reached a critical point. It is undergoing drastic changes and we need to rethink our models of society in order to deal with the risks these changes entail.

At Lombard Odier we believe the world has reached a tipping point. Our world is changing and we have to change with it.

Political miscalculations have landed the United Kingdom with its greatest economic challenge in generations with no plan for healing its divisions nor consensus for the shape of future relations with the EU, its largest trading partner.

The dollar is showing signs of pressure and we feel this will continue into 2019. Find out why from Vasileios Gkionakis, PhD our Global Head of FX Strategy

Now more than ever, we have a lot of choice in how to build a career. Technological advances have made it easier to have a flexible working life. We may choose to freelance or work remotely. As the number of freelancers increase across all sectors, businesses have started to focus on wellbeing in the workplace.

How we eat in the future was the subject of the fourth Lombard Odier women's breakfast which was held recently in our offices in Paris. Between food waste, persistent hunger and increases in obesity rates, what we put on our plates today is never far from discussion.

With so many twists and turns in the Brexit drama, we present a short overview of recent events, and elaborate on the implications for sterling.

Acleda is a microfinance institution created in 1993 in Cambodia. It was founded as an NGO to assist refugees returning from Thai camps in Cambodia following the Cambodian conflict, who had often lost everything. Acleda developed in the following years to become a traditional commercial bank.

People need to access funds to found a company, manage financial and environmental risks, invest in the education of their children and deal with unexpected medical costs. Consequently, financial inclusion plays a major role in economic development, allowing longer-term projects to be set up.

Lebanon is trying to avoid adding a financial crisis to its political and economic woes. After the optimism of May 2018’s parliamentary election, its first since 2009, talks to form a balanced government along religious lines stalled, delaying reforms to address the world’s third-highest government debt-to-gross domestic product ratio. 

Leonard Wantchekon is a tenured professor of political science and economics at Princeton University. In this interview, he shares his expert opinion on how economic and social development can be effectively promoted in poor countries.

Lombard Odier’s Arnaud Leclercq on speculative investing, global economics and what banks need to do to protect their customers

The latest investment strategy bulletin contains our latest analysis on the relationship between the yen and the dollar for the last quarter of 2018. USDJPY has fallen by 5% over the last three months, with most of the move concentrated in December.

Ethical investment, sustainable investment, socially responsible investment and impact investing: this multitude of terms denotes different approaches to a powerful transformation of finance in an effort to shape a more sustainable economy. We will concentrate on the concepts of impact investing and socially responsible investment (SRI), which are both approaches that we use at Lombard Odier.

The latter phase of an expansionary cycle poses specific challenges for investors, who must gear up for lower and more volatile returns across the board. Market corrections can occur without recessions, as valuations adapt to a higher rate environment, but they tend to be short-lived and losses are generally recouped in the following months.

For many High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and Ultra HNWIs (UHNWIs), preserving wealth can be much more important than securing sizeable returns. This may seem like a simple ask however, in a sluggish economic environment, preservation can prove rather challenging.

There is little doubt that the US economy ends 2018 with strong cyclical momentum: full-year growth is on track to reach 3% and the jobless rate stands at multi-decade lows. The strength of the labour market is particularly impressive when considering that, despite low unemployment, an average of 210,000 new jobs per month were created this year, for an annual total of some 2.5 million.

Donors play an increasing role in supporting medical innovation. They must continue this commitment to allow many more breakthroughs in cancer research.

The fact that 2018 GDP growth just shy of 2% is considered disappointing says a lot about how far the Eurozone has come since the crisis years. More meaningful perhaps is to look at growth in relative terms: after slightly outpacing the US in 2016 and 2017, the Eurozone is lagging by more than 1% in 2018 – a marked reversal of the differential.

2018 proved particularly challenging for emerging economies. Currency depreciation and nascent domestic price pressures forced a number of central banks to start tightening monetary policy. Political issues will remain key in 2019 for Latin America, notably in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

A year from now, Japan will likely be coping with the initial negative shock of Abe’s second consumption tax hike (from 8% to 10%). Given the rough patch that followed the first hike in 2014, most view this event as a hard constraint on policymakers. We beg to disagree. The scale of the hike is smaller this time, and it represents the final leg of Abe’s tax reform.

Our roots are responsible, prudent and philanthropic. As wealth managers, we help philanthropists find the most effective ways to turn their wealth and passion into actions that make the world a better place. Discover our history in philanthropy here.

How is climate change affecting migration? Discover more on central Americans leaving their hometowns to search for a better life without the threat of extreme weather events

After the stellar act of 2017, we did anticipate greater financial market volatility and lower returns this year, just not quite this bad. At the time of writing, global equity, commodity, sovereign and credit indices are all posting negative year-to-date performances in USD terms – despite a pretty solid macro landscape and still strong earnings growth.

What is the sustainability revolution? In short, it is a fundamental shift in perspective and this global shift is transforming our economies and the companies that drive them.

We are convinced that despite the inevitable volatility, there are opportunities for the prudent investor to take advantage of an environment that, overall, remains relatively supportive.

What if we could put a value on nature? Sustainable developments could be a good investment and could be a key driver of returns for investors.

The second week of the Twenty-Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has brought about a new sense of urgency that something positive be achieved at the talks.

Which forces will drive the global economy and markets in 2019? Our CIO Private Bank Stéphane Monier and Chief Economist Samy Chaar present our latest insights and asset views.

Creating a sustainable tomorrow is in all of our interests– societies, economies and individuals. That's why on 7 December, Geneva brought together academics, thought leaders, investors and policy makers to debate and highlight innovative and leading trends in sustainable finance at the Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance.

At Lombard Odier, the same principles of investment upon which we were founded have enabled us to thrive for over 220 years. And yet, in a world defined by change, it is vital that we compliment these principles with a capacity to adjust our approach to changing scenarios.

In recent years, sharp focus has been placed on the gender divide across pay, employment status and treatment in the workplace. While there are narrowing gaps between men and women in many areas of work life, there are gaping chasms in others.

The heavily coal-dependent city of Katowice in Poland is the venue for the Twenty-Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change this week. The 2015 Paris Accord was about pledges on the issue surrounding climate change, and the event's goal is to turn those promises into action. Here is a round up of the events of the first week.

Undervalued emerging market equities are positioned to benefit most from a decline in trade-related risk.

With the advance of technology, will we continue to exist for much longer? Or are we to be replaced by the machines that we are working so hard to create. These grand themes were the subject of this year's TEDxCern event, which took place in Geneva recently.

Interest in philanthropy is growing rapidly among wealthy individuals around the globe, and there are many factors driving this trend. Today, getting involved in projects can be faster, more efficient and more flexible, with philanthropists enjoying greater support in planning and structuring their activities.

It was the Ancient Romans who first discovered the benefits in using poisons to heal rather than harm humans. Some animal venoms can be used to cure diseases, create new drugs and treat chronic conditions. 

Melville in Australia is a city of the elderly. One in every four people is over the age of 60 and it has the second highest level of dementia in Western Australia. By 2020, the older population is expected to rise to 29,400, almost one third of all residents.

Japan’s soon-to-be longest-serving Prime Minister faces a choice between reinforcing ‘Abenomics’ or chancing an historic change to the country’s pacifist constitution. Investors hope he picks the former.