Kevin Disdero from Société Générale Investment Solutions Europe is our Fund Selector of the Month
10 DEC, 2025
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
Kevin Disdero is a portfolio manager at Société Générale Investment Solutions Europe, where he manages multi-assets portfolios. With more than a decade of experience in asset management, he is responsible for building robust investment strategies and delivering sustainable value for a sophisticated and demanding clientele.
Kevin is a CFA Charterholder, CAIA Charterholder, holds the Sustainable Investing certificate from the CFA Institute and a MSc in Finance from INSEEC Paris.
How did you get started with fund selection? Did you consider other career paths before that?
I have wanted to work in Asset Management probably since middle school or high school because I wanted my job to be connected to the financial markets. My interest in the fund industry developed later when I realized it is a relevant way to meet clients’ needs for diversified portfolios. If I were not working in Finance, I would probably be a watchmaker in Switzerland.
Have there been funds you were initially enthusiastic about that didn’t perform as expected? What lessons did you take away?
Of course, we try to make investment decisions based on sound investment cases and a relevant economic scenario, but we cannot predict the future. Unexpected events, adverse scenarios, happen all the time. The important thing is to continually reassess and challenge your views and be ready to adjust your portfolios.
Which current market trends or sectors are you most bullish on, and which ones are you cautious about?
I remain positive about the tech sector, especially in AI-related areas. We are currently experiencing a major revolution, as significant as the Industrial Revolution or perhaps even more. Massive investments are being put to work. Not all companies and new startups will be profitable, but AI is a true game changer across industries. Companies that don’t consider how their business will change risk losing out in the future. The coming years will be very interesting to watch. On the cautious side, the recent strong performance of gold and other precious metals raises questions about the sustainability of the rally. Gold’s attractiveness and allocation in diversified portfolios will likely stay relevant for the long term, but a short-term correction would not surprise me and could even be healthy for the markets.
Looking ahead, what changes in the fund management landscape do you anticipate over the next 5–10 years, and how are you preparing for them?
The fund management industry is a somewhat old dinosaur that hasn't changed much since its creation. I can clearly see greater use of active ETFs across the industry and a blurring of the frontier between public and private markets, with private funds being included in traditional diversified portfolios. In the not-so-distant future, I believe we will see blockchain technology used in fund management, notably to streamline operations and settlements.
What common mistakes do investors make when choosing funds, and how can they avoid them?
Probably focusing too much on past performance, even though we all know that “past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.” I think the problem is less about relying on past numbers and more about failing to assess past performance within the specific context and market environment of that period.
Have you ever gone against popular market sentiment when selecting a fund, and how did that decision turn out?
Warren Buffett said, “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” Things worked out pretty well for him, so I believe that being contrarian in fund selection can deliver outperformance, but it needs perfect timing. In practice, however, I tend to prefer not going against the market trend.
If someone were starting out in fund selection today, what key advice would you give them?
There is a massive amount of data available on funds and financial markets today. My key advice is to use all that data available to conduct a more robust and complete analysis. Generative AI tools will surely change how analyses are done and improve their quality, but they will remain tools, they won’t replace the work of the analyst.
How much of your fund selection is driven by quantitative metrics versus qualitative judgment and intuition?
Qualitative and quantitative analyses are probably equally important for fund selection. To conclude that a fund is relevant and worth considering for a portfolio, it should be attractive based on qualitative criteria (process, team quality, organizational structure and culture, etc.), but these should be supported by objectively strong quantitative data (risk and performance ratios). Lastly, there is a small part of analysis called “meta risk,” an intangible catchall based on an unexplainable feeling that something might be wrong with a fund. This should only be used as a final red flag.
Outside of your professional life, what activities or hobbies are you most passionate about?
I like modern art. A few years ago, I even exhibited some of my paintings during a vernissage in Luxembourg. I wish I had more time to dedicate to painting and continue this relaxing hobby.
