This paper shows that during the 1990s the process of gradual economic and monetary integration, which eventually led to EMU, also resulted in a reduction in the equity cost of capital. A similar reduction was not present in the three EU countries which chose not to enter the Eurozone. There was also a strong convergence in the cost of equity across the different countries within a given industrial sector, but little convergence across the different sectors of a given EMU country. An implication for portfolio management is that country effects are becoming less important and sectoral effects are becoming more important.

The advent of the euro is a significant event for portfolio managers, both within and outside the monetary union. The euro will affect portfolio decisions through a variety of channels and the emergence of a single currency marks the disappearance of explicit and psychological barriers to international investing. The set of investment opportunities qualifying as 'domestic' is expanding, while the need for diversification across currencies must now be met by an increased demand for assets which are not denominated in euros. This paper examines the principal factors influencing the portfolio reallocation process following the introduction of the euro. Three broad categories of possible portfolio allocation are considered: domestic versus non-domestic investment, debt versus equity investment, and public debt versus private debt investment.

The Economic and Business Consequences of the EMU A Challenge for Governments, Financial Institutions and Firms Hubert Ooghe Conference Chairman, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School alld Ghent University EMU finally got under way on 1 st January 1999. Since then 11 European countries share a common currency, the Euro, and pursue a common monetary policy managed by the European Central Bank (ECB). After forty years of economic integration, Euroland has the wherewithal with which to enter the 21 st century. However monetary union has implications for nearly all areas of economic activity and decision-making. Throughout the academic world researchers are fully occupied with the theoretical analysis of the impact of the Euro and the effects of incorporating the new operational framework into their economic models. Businesses and government departments are concerned primarily with the practical implementation of the single currency. For all those who playa part in the economy, it is a question of making the most of the macro and micro economic opportunities offered by the Euro and minimising any threats. On 17th and 18th March 2000, after the EMU and Euro were in operation for one year, an international conference was held in Ghent (Belgium) on the economic consequences of the introduction of the EMU and the Euro for governments, financial institutions and firms.