Van Lanschot Kempen Logo
Professional Investor - Netherlands
27 October 2025

Passive by default: is euro credit sleepwalking through a shifting landscape?

Euro credit is often treated as the quiet corner of institutional portfolios – stable, low maintenance, and easy to overlook. But that assumption is under pressure. Structural biases and shifting market dynamics are making passive exposure harder to justify.

The illusion of stability:
Fixed income indices are typically seen as neutral. In reality they carry structural biases. The most indebted issuers dominate index weightings, which can leave passive investors overexposed to leverage risk. Unlike equity benchmarks, credit indices rebalance monthly to reflect new issuance and rating changes. This churn creates inefficiencies that active managers can try to exploit, while passive strategies must accept them.

These issues have always existed, but today’s market dynamics make them harder to ignore.

Download ReportLearn more about our Euro credit strategy

Neem contact op

Ontdek het volledige scala aan expertise en diensten dat ons team biedt. Bezoek onze contactpagina om meer te leren over onze toegewijde professionals en hoe zij u kunnen helpen.

Ontmoet ons team

Disclaimer: Investing in euro credit involves risks, including interest rate risk, credit risk (including downgrade and default risk), liquidity risk and general market risk. The value of investments may fluctuate and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management NV (VLK Investment Management) is licensed as a manager of various UCITS and AIFs and authorised to provide investment services and as such is subject to supervision by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. This document is for information purposes only and  provides insufficient information for an investment decision. It does not contain investment advice, investment recommendation, research, or an invitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, and should not be interpreted as such. Opinions expressed are as of the date of publication and may change without notice.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The value of investments may fluctuate and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Sustainability-related statements are for information only and do not guarantee improved performance or reduced risk.

Kom verder, het zijn maar twee woorden, met veel verschillende betekenissen. Het is onze bedrijfsfilosofie. Het weerspiegelt de manier waarop we met onze klanten samenwerken en de manier waarop we in gesprek gaan met de bedrijven waarin we investeren om zo aandeelhouderswaarde te creëren door middel van actieve engagements.

Beleggen brengt risico's met zich mee, u kunt uw inleg verliezen. De waarde van uw beleggingen is mede afhankelijk van de ontwikkelingen op de financiële markten. In het verleden behaalde resultaten bieden geen garantie voor de toekomst.