Fund Managers

• European Union Allowance (EUA) prices have dropped significantly, falling from approximately €90/tCO2e in January to below €65/tCO2e by March. • This price decline is primarily driven by market uncertainty surrounding the upcoming reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). • The volatility matters for fund managers as it impacts the cost of carbon permits that companies must hold to cover their CO₂ emissions.

• At the Linedata Exchange London 2026 conference on June 10, industry panellists urged asset managers to move beyond AI hype and rethink their operating models and workflows. • Experts warned that firms are currently focusing on the wrong objective by attempting to simply replace human staff with AI technology. • The discussion emphasized that true industry transformation will come from using AI to redesign and optimize inefficient business processes.

• A powerful rally in semiconductor stocks from Taiwan and South Korea has significantly increased the concentration of benchmark indexes in a few dominant chipmaking companies. • This shift has created an unprecedented level of concentration risk across Asian equity markets, making it difficult for professional fund managers to outperform the market. • The trend matters because it forces investors to alter their portfolio construction strategies to manage the volatility and weight of these massive tech firms.

• President Trump and President Xi Jinping held a high-level summit, marking the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade. • The meeting focused on diplomatic relations and economic cooperation, signaling a potential shift in trade dynamics and geopolitical stability. • This summit is critical for Asian markets as it may reduce trade tensions and influence investment flows across the region.