Before making an investment or buying a savings product (e.g. investment fund or pension plan), we first need to determine our risk profile.

Ahead of the start of the New Year, analysts have issued their forecasts for market performance over the next 12 months.  Virtually all agree that equities have a greater revaluation potential than fixed income and prefer the European markets over the US bourse. In Europe, the financial sector, one of the most heavily penalized in 2015, stands out as one of the clearest contenders in 2016.

We are moving closer to the 2016 EU-wide stress testing process, an assessment that seeks to test the resilience of financial institutions under extreme situations. Can banks cope with a new economic crisis? Stress tests provide the answer. Here are the keys to understand what they will be like.

The European Commission's proposed financial transaction tax (FTT), would be imposed in 10 EU countries (including Spain). It is popularly known as the Tobin tax, as it is similar to the one advocated in 1972 by the US economist, James Tobin, although it has a broader scope and serves a different purpose than the original. The FTT aims to levy all financial asset transactions (shares, bonds and derivatives) carried out in the secondary market. It is due to come into force in 2017.

Those countries with a high level of foreign investment and doubts over the effectiveness of their monetary policy, will be most sensitive to the change in U.S. Federal Reserve policy.

How does a major bank prepare for proper measurement of risks? In the case of BBVA, training is an essential part of the process. 5,000 employees have obtained a risk management training certificate over the last twelve months. The BBVA target: to increase this number.

BBVA favors a solid model where the principles of prudence, anticipation and diversification are essential factors. As part of this policy, one key feature that has associated BBVA with proper risk management is the dissemination of risk culture among its employees. How? Through rapid internal communication and training of employees, and not just employees working in the Risk division.

How will the largest economies evolve over the next ten years? What yields may be expected from the main financial assets in that period of time? These are the two questions that the BBVA Asset Management’s strategy team has taken into consideration to elaborate a financial plan that allows to properly gauge the strategic asset portfolios it manages for its customers through different vehicles (investment funds, pension funds, SICAVs…).

Don’t miss Carlos López-Moctezuma’s interview featured in CNN en Español's GloboEconomia, From CNN's studios in Wall Street (New York), BBVA’s Head of Financial Inclusion and Easy Banking of BBVA explained why there are still over 2 billion people across the world (38% of the total adult population) that still don’t have access to financial services, not even a bank account, and what a bank like BBVA is doing to include them in the system. New mobile payments and online banking technologies are key.

At a time when everyone is wondering whether there is still innovation to develop new products and services, Fintech appears on the horizon as the great trend to follow. A movement where a lot of small companies want to change the way we understand financial services by using technology.