The relentless secular bull market in tech stocks has led to structurally high index concentration. While this is an age-old market phenomenon, it still poses a challenge for fund managers and index designers, particularly with passive investing having added fuel to the debate around index concentration.

For an asset type often regarded as a “safer” corner of the crypto world, stablecoins have attracted a surprising degree of regulatory scrutiny. While stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value, their underlying structures and use cases vary, meaning not all stablecoins are created equal. Regulators are concerned about the potential for stablecoins to pose systemic risks, particularly given their intersection with traditional financial systems.

A host of factors have conspired to act as a brake on Europe’s economic growth this century. And the situation is not helped by inherent difficulties with financing the necessary measures to increase productivity.

The notion that regulators hold absolute sway over the industries they cover is facing mounting challenges, as increasingly successful lobbying by big business to dilute regulations – ranging from bank capital requirements to climate change measures to artificial intelligence (AI) legislation – points to “regulatory capture”.

One of the major consequences of the global financial crisis of 2007-09 was a series of systematic moves by regulators to loosen the vice-like grip that incumbent banks – largely courtesy of regulators themselves – had on virtually all aspects of the payments and broader financial services market.

Famously derided as a “barbarous relic” by none less than John Maynard Keynes, and nothing more than a shiny “pet rock” to its many detractors, the allure of gold can be hard to fathom, particularly for those who pride themselves on their rational outlook. After all, gold has limited industrial or commercial utility outside of jewelry – with just 6% of production going to industrial use – and yields no income to investors.

Greenwashing – a misleading or deceptive marketing practice used by companies and other organizations to portray themselves or their products and services as environmentally friendly or sustainable – has become so ubiquitous in recent times that regulators have been forced to act. The EU’s proposed “green claims” directive is the latest initiative designed to clarify the investment regime around sustainability and ESG with the aim of protecting consumers and investors from greenwashing. Once again, however, its progress promises to be somewhat fraught.

July saw a dramatic rotation in the US stock market out of all-conquering megacap tech stocks into small caps. While a market rebalancing would be welcome, gathering economic and political uncertainty point to volatility ahead, which is a headwind for riskier small caps.