Overview

• The SuperReturn conference in Berlin has drawn global private equity and asset managers overseeing over $50 trillion in assets, with keynote speeches from Bono and Serena Williams.
• Protests by Finanzwende, Deutscher Mieterbund, Verdi and other groups are unfolding around the event to highlight the social impacts of financial investors in essential services.
• Critics point out that approximately one million housing units in Germany are controlled by publicly listed companies that often resort to steep rent hikes and property underinvestment.
• In the healthcare sector, firms like Alloheim have reduced personnel spending to about 55 percent of budgets, compared with around 70 percent in non-profit facilities.
• Activists warn that private investors exploit loopholes in the Grundstücksverkehrsgesetz to acquire farmland and are calling for stronger rules and transparency.