Outlook
& news.

Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance advises the Santé Service Foundation during its exclusive discussions with the Clariane Group regarding the acquisition of all its Home Hospitalization and Home Nursing Care (HAD/SSIAD) activities in France.

Edmond de Rothschild has hired three seasoned professionals to support the development of its Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) capabilities across Europe. Industry veterans DJ Dhananjai and Robbert Zoet join the group’s London office, respectively as Chief Investment Officer UK for Real Estate Investment Management and Head of Real Assets Distribution. Fabrice Lefevre-Sory joins the Paris office as Senior Real Assets sales.

As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged. Jerome Powell said markets would need to be patient as little progress had been made on the disinflation front since the beginning of the year, and especially not in services. But ...

The week’s PMI data provided confirmation of a manufacturing slowdown but suggested services would drive a recovery in the coming months.

The AT1¹ bond segment has been back in favour since end 2023, even if the long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance advised the shareholders of Transarc (CEO Damien Rameau and the management team, Bpifrance, CARVEST, and IDIA Capital Investment), a major independent coach operator, on the sale of a majority stake to Infranity, a leading European investor in sustainable infrastructure, to support the company's growth and the electrification of its fleet.

Equity markets were range bound over the period but government bonds saw wider fluctuations.

Geopolitical risk mounted further in the Middle East after Iran made a direct strike on Israel over the weekend. Nobody wants the situation to escalate but there is a risk it could happen following Thursday night’s riposte against Iran.

After the previous week's indications of labour market resilience in the US, this week saw inflation proving sticky. March’s  CPI increased by 0.4% vs. 0.3% expected, the third month in a row in which it had come in hotter than consensus expectations.

The macroeconomic environment appears favourable for emerging sovereign and corporate bonds, which display robust fundamentals. The Fed’s policy pivot and a weakening dollar expected in 2024 could prompt investors looking for yield to return to the asset class.

IDI takes a majority stake in EXSTO, a group specializing in high-performance elastomer solutions, alongside the management team led by Christophe Torres and the historical minority shareholders.

Yield curve inversion has been around for almost two years, Europe is the theatre of a serious war, China is mired in deflation, globalisation is still stuck in a US-China trade conflict, rampant inflation has given way to a monetary shock and yet, even without a recession, risk assets have soared in today’s Goldilocks¹ environment.