Asset Managers

Registrations of reserved alternative investment funds took a very relaxed late-summer break during August, quietening to a level last seen early in the Raif product’s history — in January 2019. Only 15 new funds were registered during the month, according to data from Luxembourg Business Registers analysed by Investment Officer.

The 29th edition of the Monterey Insight Luxembourg Fund Report reveals that unregulated funds are outperforming their regulated counterparts in a big way, signalling a potential paradigm shift for the Grand Duchy. Unregulated funds, especially reserved alternative investment funds (Raifs), have seen a surge in asset value. Raifs alone have increased their assets to the equivalent of 458.4 billion dollars, marking a 38.6% rise from last year’s 330.8 billion dollars, said Monterey.

Amundi is continuing to transfer Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with exposure to U.S.-based companies from Luxembourg to Ireland. A significant part of this migration, involving €6.58 billion across two ETFs, was announced last week.

Upcoming legislation bringing challenges to the fund distribution industry – notably adding reporting requirements and increasing costs – will be a key focus on Wednesday’s Global Distribution Conference of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, known as Alfi. “Distribution is still the key to the success of the asset management industry,” said Steven Libby, a partner and Emea AWM leader at PwC and an Alfi board member, who will serve as Master of Ceremony at Wednesday’s event.

Artificial intelligence could change the way ETFs are assembled. Why would an investor opt for traditional index trackers when they can be customized? Newcomers see opportunities, but the establishment remains skeptical.

In a high-profile executive shuffle, Pierre Jond has been named the new Chief Executive Officer of Amundi Luxembourg, and chairman of Fund Channel, the B2B fund distribution platform jointly owned by Amundi and Caceis. The appointment took effect on September 1. 

Jond succeeds Jeanne Duvoux, who is transitioning to a new role as Head of Business Support & Operations for Amundi Group, Europe’s biggest asset manager with approximately 2,000 billion euro in assets under management.

KPMG Luxembourg announced Wednesday an agreement with developer BPI Real Estate to develop a new headquarters building in Kirchberg for its audit, tax and advisory services activities.

The deal includes developing a new 31,000-square-meter headquarters on the 3.23-hectare site of the Kronos Building. It will incorporate a food court and a co-working space. BPI Real Estate will develop an additional 24,658 square meters for mixed-use purposes.

Chinese growth is disappointing. Global asset managers are liquidating large parts of their equity positions in the country, resulting in falling share prices. It seems like a godsend for bargain hunters, but passionate China investors are also on their toes.

China is not growing fast enough, so investors have been liquidating their positions in Chinese stocks at an unprecedented rate.

Ansgar John Brenninkmeijer, the fifth-generation descendant of the Dutch C&A family, read a popular investment book, founded a fund without any prior experience, had it blessed by a daytrading priest, and has been outperforming “virtually all indices” since.

The google search for Ansgar John Brenninkmeijer yields remarkable results. At a young age, he received treatment in a psychiatric institution. He was arrested twice for resisting COVID-19 measures, and he spent a short time in a police cell.

“Shares are no longer dirt cheap, but there are still opportunities. We focus mainly on long-term trends and avoid the riskiest sectors, such as American regional banks and Office REITs,” says Laurence De Munter, investment strategist at Securities De Munter.