ReleaseWire Connect

Opportunities in Europe's industrial powerhouse are attracting more firms to countries like Germany. Brookfield Investment Management, for example, announced in April of this year that it is focused on increasing its European exposure with a new Frankfurt office. The office could open as early as 2022, as the firm is keen to tap into the growth potential in the region and triple the $120 billion of assets it already holds in Europe. With such a strong industrial base, Germany is an obvious target for Brookfield, which is looking at large industrial assets, as well as German manufacturers in areas such as chemicals and precision-machinery. The office in Frankfurt will be the third that the firm has opened in Europe, as it already has two, one in London and one in Madrid. One of Brookfield's London executives will be moving to Frankfurt in order to head up the new office.

The crypto market has been growing exponentially over the past year and is increasingly becoming an option for more mainstream financial institutions. Now, Germany's fourth largest bank has confirmed that it is venturing into the territory of digital assets custody and exchange services. Commerzbank is one of many traditional banks in Europe that have recently signaled that it's time for them to make this move. This level of adoption adds to the credibility of crypto currency and demonstrates the steps that conservative banks are now willing to take to ensure their own expansion. Commerzbank has also been working on blockchain projects since 2018. Crypto custody was introduced into the German Banking Act as a new financial service in January 2020 and there is a lot more focus on cracking down on unregulated activity as the infrastructure is created to bring crypto more into the mainstream all over Europe.

The banking and financial services world is going through plenty of change, not least when it comes to expanding existing operations. Earlier this year, German investment house, Feri, announced that it was continuing to focus on operations in Zurich after making an acquisition there in 2021. Feri bought Zurich-based asset manager Limmat Wealth at the beginning of last year and is now looking at expanding, and reorganising, its team in Zurich in order to be able to optimise all the potential that this acquisition has created. The current workforce in Zurich consists of around 25 employees but Feri is clearly planning to increase the number of people in its local operations in the months to come. In particular, Feri is keen to expand its capabilities for portfolio management in the city. The team in Zurich already serves 200+ private and institutional clients and this, too, is a figure likely to increase through 2022-2023.

Opportunities in German financial markets look set to expand considerably in the coming month and years. In particular, the embedded finance industry has some very positive forecasts, with 33.5% growth predicted in 2022. Over the period 2022 - 2029, CAGR of 20.3% is forecast with revenues to reach US$14,886.2 million by 2029. Momentum has been growing in Germany's financial sector in the past year with embedded insurance doing exceptionally well. The German market is attracting a wide range of international insurtech firms thanks to the opportunities that exist here. One major contributor to market growth in the coming years is the number of strategic partnerships that are being established between parties in the market in Germany, the goal being to launch innovative products in the coming months. Given that Germany is the largest consumer lending market in the European region the opportunities for businesses operating in this market are significant.

One of the world's largest real estate investment managers, Allianz Real Estate, achieved huge growth last year with a portfolio increase to EUR 11.6 billion in assets. The global logistics portfolio is a prominent measure of growth at the firm, according to insiders, Allianz took advantage of the opportunity to establish the portfolio early and has now achieved a leading market position in the sector, which is partly responsible for the increase in growth. The focus for the team has been aligned with the wider strategy of ESG and sustainability at Allianz. The team selects assets and partners that demonstrate robust ESG profiles and is building a logistics portfolio that has notably high standards. Logistics exposure at Allianz is made up of EUR 8.6 billion in equity investment and EUR 3 billion in financing. The focus on sustainability is unsurprising for a firm that has committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its portfolio by 25% by 2025.

Embedded finance schemes cover a wide range of categories, from loyalty schemes to 'buy now, pay later' options and cash back on purchases. There is obvious enthusiasm for these products among consumers which has led to a range of retailers to start investing in them. New figures reveal that 75%+ of top European business leaders are now looking to launch more of these embedded finance schemes to help attract new customers and cement relationships with existing ones. One of the advantages of embedded finance schemes is that they essentially integrate financial services offerings into non-financial companies. This has benefits when it comes to improving the check out and payment experiences that consumers have and this can increase conversions and long-term engagement between customers and firms. Currently, around 75% of firms in Germany are already offering embedded finance schemes and, given the spike in interest currently under way, that is only likely to increase.

Bitcoin continues to gain ground in the mainstream and now it has been announced that Fidelity International will be listing a bitcoin exchange-traded product. The product is going to be made available on the SIX Swiss Exchange and Germany's Xetra digital stock exchange, with the German stage already complete. The physically backed bitcoin ETP has Fidelity Digital Assets as its custodian and a total expense ratio of 0.75%. Fidelity International is a very well-established financial services company with a history that goes back to 1969. It is the latest big name to venture into cryptocurrencies but it certainly won't be the last. Currently, Fidelity has more than $800 billion in assets under management. The bitcoin ETP launched by Fidelity comes after the asset manager Invesco announced in November last year that it had listed a BTC ETP on the Xetra digital stock exchange. It also follows on from the rejection of Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot ETP earlier in 2022.

Germany is the biggest and fastest growing fund market in Europe, currently with assets of more than EUR 3 billion and an annual growth rate of 8.6%. So, it's no surprise that there are many investment businesses keen to establish a base and focus on growth in this part of Europe. Manulife Investment Management is one of those key players. In a move that will further strengthen its expansion the firm has appointed a new managing director of sales and relationship management in Germany in Nicole Kudlek. Kudlek will be based at the firm's new office, which is located in Frankfurt Am Main. Her role will be to identify new business opportunities in the German institutional market, signaling the organisation's intention to expand further here. Kudlek will be looking for ways to support Manulife Investment Management's strategic growth initiative, providing more fuel for DACH and EMEA expansion of the firm's asset management business.

The banking sector in London is thriving if the most recent hiring figures are to be believed. After a period of significant challenge, thanks to the pandemic and Brexit, in June 2021, 5,000 new banking jobs were created, the first time that has ever happened according to industry insiders. This record hiring activity continued throughout the second half of the year and much of the focus of it was on compliance.

In spite of all the issues and delays that Brexit has caused the financial services sector it looks like the UK is set to become a leader in the world of crypto. More and more people are now choosing cryptocurrencies thanks to the increasingly mainstream nature of the sector. Investment in financial technology has been a big factor in the rise of the UK in cryptocurrencies.