Alternative Investments. In view of highly valued stock markets, the risks in portfolios are increasing. And because interest-bearing securities - unlike in the past - no longer offer much in the way of returns or protection in the event of turbulence, investors are looking for new underlying investments that generate returns regardless of market trends. "The GAIA Helix fund does just that," says Ulrich Heuberger, head of sales at Schroder Investment Management.

Shuffling possible. For a long time, investors have achieved adequate returns by dividing their assets between 60 percent equities and 40 percent government bonds. In view of rising inflation rates and persistently low interest rates, this is now becoming increasingly difficult in real terms, i.e. adjusted for purchasing power. "It is high time to readjust this successful strategy," says Kristina Bambach, who is responsible for the Phaidros Funds Balanced mixed fund at asset manager Eyb & Wallwitz together with Georg von Wallwitz and Ernst Konrad.

A letter from ... Marcus Vitt, Spokesman of the Board of Donner & Reuschel, Edmund Stoiber, Peer Steinbrück, Günther Oettinger, Hans-Werner Sinn, Wolfgang Reitzle and many more.

Circular economy. The traditional production model of the throwaway society is reaching its limits in a world of scarce resources and increasing environmental damage. The transition to an economy that consistently recycles resources can offer a way out. The experts at Robeco have made this an exciting investment theme.

Schwellenländer-Aktien. In den ersten acht Jahren der 2000er waren Schwellenländer – vor allem die legendären BRICs – Stars an den Kapitalmärkten. Danach folgte ein mühsamer struktureller Umbau – weg von Exporten und Rohstoffen, hin zu Binnenwirtschaft, Konsum und Technologie. „Nun ist dieser abgeschlossen. Anlegern eröffnen sich ganz neue Chancen“, meint Dara White, Columbia Threadneedle.

Jake Burton Carpenter revolutionized winter sports in a small barn in 1977. He made snowboarding a trendy sport and set off a worldwide boom. Today, his company is still the world market leader with a 32 percent market share and $200 million in sales. His fondest childhood memory is a vacation in the Bromley Mountains. In 1961, six-year-old Jake Burton Carpenter from Long Island stood on skis and experienced for the first time the exhilaration that body control and speed can cause. As a 14-year-old student, he discovers the "snurfer" - a simple board with a rope at the tip. "It had been around since the 1920s, but the manufacturer sold it as a ten-dollar toy, not as a piece of sports equipment," he recounted. In fact, it's not much of...