Degroof Petercam Asset Services (DPAS), a key service provider to Luxembourg’s fund industry, will change its name on 1 June. The rebranding follows the acquisition of Belgian financial group Degroof Petercam by the French firm Indosuez, part of Crédit Agricole.
The new name will be CAI FS, short for CA Indosuez Fund Solutions, as DPAS has informed the shareholders of the funds it services. Earlier announcements already revealed that DPAS – from next week operating under the name CAI FS – will outsource certain activities to Caceis Luxembourg, the asset servicer jointly owned by Crédit Agricole and Spain’s Santander.
End of a Belgian legacy
The name change marks the disappearance of a small but symbolic part of Belgian financial heritage. DPAS, not to be confused with asset manager DPAM, was established in April 2016 from Degroof Gestion Institutionnelle Luxembourg, following the 2015 merger between Bank Degroof and Petercam. At the time, the aim was to build a major independent Belgian wealth group, including a presence in Luxembourg through DPAS. The company is based in the same building as Degroof Petercam’s private banking operations in Luxembourg.
Since Degroof Petercam was officially acquired by Indosuez last year, the new French owners have been working to partially decouple the group’s four core business lines – private banking, institutional asset management, investment banking, and asset servicing – in order to restructure them within the broader Crédit Agricole group.
New custody arrangements
Under the previous structure, DPAS provided custody-related services through Bank Degroof Petercam Luxembourg as its depositary. In its new form as CAI FS, Caceis Luxembourg is expected to become the primary depositary partner in most cases.
DPAS, which serves more than 70 clients across 13 countries, also informed several investment funds on Monday that Caceis Luxembourg will assume responsibility for a number of administrative functions on behalf of CAI FS starting 10 June. These include net asset value (NAV) calculations and shareholder register maintenance.
The asset servicer emphasised that there will be no change to the fees currently charged to the funds for these services. The precise scope of tasks being outsourced by CAI FS to Caceis will be detailed in updated fund prospectuses by 4 July.
Familiar faces
It is worth noting that Sylvie Huret, who became chief executive of Degroof Petercam late last year, was previously chief executive of DPAS and earlier served as chief financial officer of Bank Degroof Petercam Luxembourg.