Research Papers

AI’s infrastructure boom is drawing some of the world’s largest technology companies deeper into debt markets.

Leadership transitions can affect strategy execution, organisational stability, investor confidence and long-term value creation. Yet effective leadership governance goes beyond selecting the right CEO today. Boards also need to anticipate the leadership capabilities their company will require for its next strategic phase.

The environmental transition is no longer a distant policy ambition. It is becoming a structural economic force — reshaping energy systems, industrial value chains and resource infrastructure. As clean technologies mature and environmental pressures intensify, investors can look beyond short-term policy cycles to a multi-decade capex opportunity spanning electrification, circularity and water security.

Credit markets have evolved. What was once considered a single asset class has become a broad, fragmented and multi-layered ecosystem spanning bonds, derivatives, private markets, currencies and capital structures—from senior secured debt to subordinated and hybrid instruments.

Why has the enthusiasm for sustainable investing lost its lustre? A lag in performance of sustainable European equities relative to the broader European equity markets over the last three years hasn’t helped. Sector rotation in equities is often blamed for this downturn in returns. .

Late-cycle credit markets rarely announce themselves clearly. Spreads remain tight, income is still available, and risky assets may continue to perform. Yet beneath this apparent stability, the balance is shifting: compensation is thinner, risks are more idiosyncratic, and the margin for error is narrowing.

If you ask a fixed income investor to describe the credit cycle, most will readily cite its four familiar phases: Repair, Recovery, Expansion and Downturn. Knowing the terminology is straightforward. The more relevant question is: why does it matter for portfolio outcomes?

If brand value is image, reputation, and a track record of quality, the higher the price of the product, the more important that image is for pricing and profit. And the more susceptible to negative news which might affect that image.

The world of 2030 is already taking shape: AI assistants embedded in daily life, autonomous mobility, software-defined factories, digital twins, and smarter energy systems that optimise demand in real time.

Precision oncology is entering a new era—one defined by earlier detection, personalised treatment, and the growing potential for long-term remission or cure.

The loss of biodiversity has financial and investment implications. While not-for-profits and investors such as ourselves are straining to actually quantify our risks, the qualitative indicators are mounting.

Geopolitical Fragmentation | Europe’s Investment Moment | Candriam Discover how Europe’s drive for strategic autonomy is reshaping global investing. Read Candriam’s latest research and explore our European Autonomy Fund.

While, according to the World Economic Forum, half of the global GDP is dependent on nature, biodiversity is experiencing an extinction that challenges the resilience of our economies. Deterioration of air, water and soil quality, decline in ecosystem services such as pollination: the physical impacts of this loss of biodiversity are already putting our economies under pressure.

Candriam has long been recognised for its leadership in ESG, but our reputation is equally rooted in deep credit expertise — analysing not just issuers, but the entire architecture of financial markets. This perspective is particularly critical in complex areas such as bank capital, where instruments like CoCos play a decisive role.

We promised you transparency. For a comprehensive discussion of our efforts and results, see our Net Zero Progress Report 2026. We frequently say that it is not just the carbon target, but the path to that target which affects the damage along the way. In this spirit, we share with you along the way our milestones for the four pillars of our Net Zero strategy.

Merger Arbitrage is a sophisticated investment strategy that capitalizes on the price difference between a target company's stock price in the market and the acquisition price during mergers and acquisitions.

Is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution unstoppable? With lightning speed, AI is reshaping industries, unlocking economic value, driving positive environmental impact, helping address social challenges – and additionally, offering compelling investment opportunities.

You want to talk about euro swap spreads versus US swap spreads? We watch that, too. But to be honest, that graph is one of the last things we look at when managing euro fixed income aggregate portfolios. So if you want to see it, you’ll have to read all the rest of this page first.

We have previously examined the equity/bond allocation and asked, ‘Is 40/30/30 the new 60/40?’ Well, yes, we think it is. Our work shows a long-term correlation between equities and fixed income that is frighteningly close to 1.0. This increased correlation fundamentally alters the effectiveness of traditional portfolio construction.

Although navigating by the stars can seem brave and adventurous, we would not recommend it on financial markets. Better be equipped with a solid compass !

PFAS have been widely used for decades due to their unique properties in various domestic and industrial applications. They are resistant to water and virtually indestructible. They are also seen as the poison of the century. Where do we stand in terms of regulation? What are the PFAS-related risks? Where are the opportunities?

The global macro environment will likely favour further dollar strength, despite the strong appreciation since the US elections in early November. Under President Trump’s second administration, we may even test the dollar highs seen during Paul Volcker’s Federal Reserve chairmanship in the 1980s.

As we enter 2025, the arrival of a new President in the White House is generating a great deal of uncertainty. Merger arbitrage (M&A) strategies are no exception to the question: What impact can we expect from the change of administration on this asset class ?

Have you heard about radiotheranostics? This new field in medicine combines diagnosis and therapy. It involves using specially designed radioactive compounds that can both identify cancer cells and deliver targeted radiation therapy to destroy them. This is one of the latest developments of precision medicine, a domain that offers fascinating prospects in both early detection and specific treatment.

Biodiversity challenges are multifaceted, involving intricate ecological, geographical, and social dimensions. Acknowledging this, Candriam’s biodiversity framework allows for a granular and effective approach of biodiversity integration.