What I learned from an investing presentation with a fancy name
I attended the Asset Investment Night 2025. And even though you won't get the goodie bag I got, I'll still give you some of my key takeaways.
I attended to learn more about investing in markets shaped by geopolitical developments, triggered by recent developments, and as an extension of my recent deep dive into european defence industry comps.
Organised by Tilburg School of Economics' faculty association Asset, the theme of Investment Night 2025 was: Balancing Ethics and Profits: Portfolio Management in an Era of Global Change and Geopolitical Risk.
Speakers from the faculty, ING, PGGM, and Antaurus Capital Management focused their presentations on the following questions:
đź’¬ Should portfolio managers avoid investments in the arms industry?
đź’¬ How can geopolitical risks be mitigated, and what are recent examples?
đź’¬ Does avoiding investments in unstable regions reduce portfolio volatility?
đź’¬ Has the war in Ukraine shifted the vision on ethical investing?
Here are my key takeaways from the discussions:
- Defence investing is defendable, if you believe that the industry is foundational to democratic society, and you do your due diligence.
- There are interesting investment theses to be made in multiple markets, driven by current geopolitics. Some examples include:
- An open door: look for opportunities in assets that become unjustly undervalued by broader market sentiment. With big events effecting market-wide sentiment (when beta tends to spike to approach 1), relatively stable companies can become undervalued, if fundamentals are unaffected. Examples include equity in utility companies with secured revenue.
- Long High Frequency Traders (HFTs). HFTs make more money when markets have increased volatility and trading volumes.
- Long Swiss Franc (CHF). Investors tend to flock to Swiss currency as a safe haven asset in times of unrest. See the image below for examples.
