In my opening remarks at VIP – Europe, I always try to recap some of the recurring themes that we’re picking up during discussions at our editorial advisory board meetings around the world. 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 investment objectives; all these are themes that are weighing heav