In my opening remarks at our VIP – Americas and VIP – Europe conferences, I always try to recap some of the recurring themes that have arisen during discussions at our Editorial Advisory Board meetings around the world. The following is a recap of this year’s themes:

Global economic backdrop

First and foremost, investors around the globe are concerned about uncertainty in the global economic climate. The continuing but painfully slow recovery in the United States and Europe; the global impact of the decline in China’s economic growth rate, coupled with the recent consensus at Davos that global GDP growth rates will disappoint earlier expectations this year; OPEC’s challenge to the rise of US oil and gas production and its potential impact on energy-driven space markets within the United States (counterbalanced across the globe by cheaper and more plentiful energy); cross-border capital flows from new investor segments with different investmen