Reserved alternative investment fund registrations (Raifs) in July continued a moderate recovery from a slowdown earlier this year, with 31 new Raifs added to the Luxembourg Business Register list.
The statistic for July continues three months of growth in monthly Raif listings, up from their lowest point this year at 23 in May. However, this is well below historic results for July, with 59 recorded in 2021, and 48 in 2022. The peak of summer has coincided with the highest number of Raifs being added to the LBR registry since 2021.
Earlier this year, there had been a sustained decline in registration activity from February to May, which ended in a June rebound of 26 registrations. This was put down by some observers to macroeconomic conditions, including geopolitical volatility, sticky inflation and continued interest rate rises in many economies. (See our late July story.)
Raifs are a Luxembourg investment vehicle with its own “product law” that can be used for several investment strategies including real estate, private equity, debt and commodities. The funds are only available to “well-informed” or institutional investors, unlike widely used and popular UCITS funds that are structured for more liquid asset classes. Investors wishing to make a private investment through a Raif are required to commit at least 125,000 euros on a long-term basis.
Most consistent firms
The most active management companies in registering Raifs in July included: Hauck & Aufhäuser Fund Services SA, with 3, and Fundcraft Management S.á.r.l, BlueBay Funds Management Company SA, Sienna AM Luxembourg, Lemanik Asset Management SA and Stepstone Group Europe Alternative Investments Ltd. all with 2.
LBR recorded Hauck & Aufhäuser’s creation of the MEAG IDF III S.C.SP. SICAV-RAIF on 6 July, the BPE SCS SICAV-RAIF on 19 July and the WB Urban Real Estate Debt Fund I SCA SICAV-RAIF on 26 July.
Many of the most consistent players on the market managed to register at least one Raif. These include for instance Carne Global Fund Managers, Universal-Investment Luxembourg, DWS Investment, Ardian France, Degroof Petercam Asset Services, UBS Fund Management and ONE Fund Management.
The 1 September Raif list update, a very preliminary report, recorded 13 new Raif registrations in August. More are expected to be added to that month in the LBR’s mid-September update.