News

This year’s overview of the most read articles on Investment Officer Luxembourg demonstrates that readers are highly attracted to articles about financial regulation and supervision of investment funds and management companies in the Grand Duchy.

About 85 percent of Europe’s asset management activity takes place in six countries: the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, data from Efama’s 2023 Asset Management Report shows.

Luxembourg last year remained among the most expensive domiciles for investment funds in Europe in all three investment categories, according to a research report released on Monday by the European Securities and Markets Authority, Esma.

Saxo Bank’s annual Outrageous Predictions, a brainchild of Steen Jakobsen, CIO at Saxo, have become a global phenomenon, intended to provoke thought and reassess investment strategies.

Consolidation, regulatory risks, and the need to stay relevant to the target audience of investors and asset owners are considered as the topics that keep C-level asset managers awake at night. At the Efama conference in Brussels on Thursday, CEOs of five firms underlined the importance of adaptability, technological integration, and maintaining a clear company purpose.

Whisky asset manager Scotch Whisky Investments until recently focused mainly on private investors. That market continues as usual, but bringing in former ABN Amro director Eran Habets as CEO means more focus on selling to independent asset managers and family offices. And abroad, first and foremost Belgium.

Luxembourg-headquartered CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s biggest private equity firms, on Wednesday decided to postpone its initial public offering on the Amsterdam stock exchange, a person familiar with the decision has confirmed. The firm now is looking for a new opportunity to go public in 2024.

Amidst the ongoing transition to a new pension system in the Netherlands, Dutch pension fund managers are finding little bandwidth these days to explore fresh investment ideas for the coming year. Against this backdrop, asset managers face hurdles in gaining their attention, with only essential risk management being the focal point for many.

Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, on Thursday declined to provide forward guidance on the direction of Eurozone interest rates but said that its decision in December will be made based on updated data on inflation and on the actual economic impact of its monetary policy.

With 29 new funds registered, last month was the best September in three years for new Raifs issuance, data analysis by Investment Officer Luxembourg shows. Raifs are Reserved Alternative Investment Funds. In Luxembourg these vehicles in recent years have gained significant international traction among those active in private assets such as credit, real estate and private equity.