Corinne Lamesch, chair of the board at the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (Alfi), speaks to InvestmentOfficer.lu for a podcast about current challenges facing the asset management industry, specifically in dealing with investment funds exposed to Russian assets and the implementation of sanctions against Russia, and in sustainable finance and ESG.
In the interview conducted on the sidelines of Alfi’s 2022 European Asset Management conference in Luxembourg, she also elaborated on Alfi’s discussions with regulators, on behalf of the industry, about the introduction of side pockets as a liquidity management tool for funds with Russia exposure.
“Let’s say it’s a last resort mechanism. It’s a mechanism to deal with a structural issue in the portfolios. To use this technique, you really need to think it through to the end process here, because as you know, Ucits funds are broadly distributed. The end investor is not always the first point of contact of the funder intermediaries. So how would you implement this from an operational perspective? That’s another topic we’re discussing. But it would protect the investors in the current case, because it would isolate a problem.”
‘Don’t mess up with the sanctions’
She also commented on the call by Luxembourg’s chief financial regulator Claude Marx, who told the conference that the fund industry should step up its efforts to implement sanctions against Russia and make sure that Russian oligarchs don’t evade sanctions by hiding their money in European investment funds.
“His words were just a word of caution. I think these sanctions are unprecedented. We have never seen such a huge amount of sanctions at the same time. So it’s a complex regulation. And he just worked his message: make sure that you apply them correctly. Fund houses take this very seriously. And I have to say, I don’t think we have too many Russian investors in our funds. But obviously, this is still to be determined. But his message was clear. Don’t mess up with the sanctions.”
Mrs Lamesch is the Chair of the Alfi Board of Directors since June 2019. She is a regular speaker at industry events and has been actively participating in conferences and roadshows that ALFI is organising in Luxembourg and across the globe.
Fidelity International
She is Country Head, Luxembourg at Fidelity International and has over 20 years of experience in the Luxembourg fund industry. She joined Fidelity International in 2008 and has also acted as Conducting Officer of Fidelity International’s Luxembourg-based management company since 2015.
Prior to joining Fidelity International, Corinne worked as a lawyer for Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy from 1998 to 2008, advising on the Luxembourg and international investment fund industry.
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