Asset Managers

Some 40 new Eltif funds, enabling European retail investors to put their money in private markets, are understood to be in the pipeline, due to enter the market in the coming months.

When investors buy a company’s share, conventionally, they hope for the stock value to climb and maybe pay dividends. But there’s another way to make money on your shares – lend them to other investors to use for their own purposes, for a fee. This hasn’t been previously possible for most investors in Luxembourg. With help of a fintech, one bank has committed to make it happen.

Better ESG scores of listed companies do not necessarily lead to higher equity returns. Contrary to the claims of numerous asset managers, this link cannot be scientifically proven, according to researchers from Erasmus University and Boston University.

The European Long-Term Investment Fund (Eltif) stands out as a valuable and potentially crucial instrument for financing Europe’s energy transition, according to the chief executive of the Luxembourg Fund Industry Association (Alfi), Serge Weyland. In an interview, he underscored the Eltif’s unique ability to channel new capital into projects with long-term sustainability objectives and said made clear that he would welcome EU-level fiscal stimuli for this specific type of Eltif.

Amundi on Monday announced the expansion of its global equities offering with the launch of the Amundi Prime All Country World Ucits ETF, now listed on Xetra. The Paris-headquartered firm said its new fund aims to offer investors cost-efficient, highly-diversified equity exposure across both developed and emerging markets, boasting the lowest management fees for an all-country ETF on the European market at 0.07%.

The EU’s retail investment package will come up for a vote at the Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on the evening of Wednesday, 20 March.

The European Long-Term Investment Fund (Eltif) regulation, initially introduced in 2015, has been revamped to Eltif 2.0, entering into effect in January 2024. This revised regulation is poised to significantly influence the landscape of private credit investment in Europe, according to Michael George, lead portfolio manager of M&G’s Corporate Credit Opportunities Eltif Fund.

RBC Bluebay has been named the top asset manager in Luxembourg, clinching the prestigious 2024 Morningstar Award for Investing Excellence.

An industry group backed by leading asset managers in Europe wants to shed light on the significant lack of diversity within the European asset management industry. The research project has been initiated by the Diversity Project Europe, an initiative of eight leading asset managers established last year, and is supported by PwC Switzerland. 

With so much media and public attention focussed on large-cap companies like any of the Magnificent Seven, it’s interesting to hear the case for investing in small and mid-cap companies. Those are market valuations, respectively, under 2 billion and between 2 and 10 billion US dollars. Henrik Blohm, who has run the BL American small & mid-caps fund since 2015, is a big proponent.