LGT Big Picture

Europe's strengths - April 2026

Europe may appear less dynamic than the USA and China, but the continent's strengths are often underestimated. In this video, Philipp Lisibach, CIO Europe at LGT Private Banking, and Professor Dr Jan-Egbert Sturm, Director of the KOF Institute at ETH Zurich, discuss both Europe's advantages and its challenges.

  • Date
  • Author Philipp Lisibach, CIO Europe, LGT Private Banking
  • Reading time 20 minutes

In conversation: Philipp Lisibach and Professor Dr Jan-Egbert Sturm (German video with english subtitles)

Find out in the video

  • Why Europe is an economic power.
  • What speaks for the continent.
  • What structural tasks Europe must tackle.

Europe - under structural pressure

While Europe debates, America and China are pulling ahead. Europe is economically significant, but it is under structural pressure. Its financial markets are fragmented, it lacks a common defence policy and major political decisions require all 27 member states to agree.

Yet Europe has real strengths that need to be re-mobilised: industrial depth, the single market, the rule of law, political stability and the ability to act as one when it chooses to. Europe must address and remove structural weaknesses in order to be fit for the future.

Experts in the video

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Professor Dr Jan-Egbert Sturm

Director of the KOF Institute and Professor of Applied Macroeconomics, ETH Zurich

Jan-Egbert Sturm has been Professor of Applied Macroeconomics at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC) as well as Director of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich since October 2005. He is the managing editor of Economic Systems and sits on various committees and boards in Switzerland and abroad.

Philipp Lisibach, Head Investment Strategy & Themes Europe, LGT Private Banking.

Philipp Lisibach

CIO Europe, LGT Private Banking

Philipp Lisibach is Chief Investment Officer Europe and Head Investment Strategy & Themes for LGT Private Banking in Zurich. In this role, he is responsible for the LGT Europe House View, which includes macroeconomic forecasts, tactical investment positioning as well as thematic investments and research. Philipp Lisibach is Chairman of the LGT Europe Investment Committee.

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