Erste Group Bank AG flagged up loan growth in Slovakia and the Czech Republic as it reported a surge in second-quarter return on average equity to 17.1%, double the first quarter's level. UniCredit Bank Austria AG's 28% rise in first-half net attributable profit was almost entirely driven by a doubling of gains in central and eastern Europe.

After a glorious and rather calm summer, characterised by a broad-based rally by risky assets, range trading by govies and declines in risk perception and volatility, which we examined last week, we now propose to run through the exposure of the main categories of institutional investors. Did they surf on the August wave?

While US equity markets are setting new all-time highs and inflows into emerging markets are picking up, spurred by the global improvement in the macroeconomic news flow, the Natixis risk perception index (RPI), covered at regular intervals in our publications, has declined to more than 2-year lows, camping below 20% since the start of August.

The generally high capital and strong asset quality of banks in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria should be underscored by the European Banking Authority's 2016 stress test, yet significant weaknesses could still emerge, especially among German and Austrian lenders.

More volatility looms for the global markets, torn between anxiety over the fallout of the UK's vote to exit the European Union (Brexit) and the prospect of a strengthening U.S. economy, according to the BlackRock Investment Institute's Mid-Year 2016 Global Investment Outlook.