Investment Officer

Luxembourg’s financial sector continues to rely heavily on outsourcing services. A survey, conducted by PWC among 342 top executives and operational heads in the financial sector, found that a remarkable 90 percent of them engage in outsourcing activities.

Geneva-based investment house Edmond de Rothschild has agreed to sell its third-party asset servicing operations based in Luxembourg to Apex Group, a global financial services provider. This move is a part of Edmond de Rothschild’s strategy to narrow its focus on private banking and asset management, divesting from certain non-core business activities. 

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Higher interest rates, the pace at which central banks will cut rates, a possible recession and regulations on sustainability and digitalisation. In their expectations for 2024, Investment Officer experts and columnists name these as the key themes. 

In the line-up below, our columnists and knowledge experts tell what challenges they expect within their field for the coming year. Which immediately answers the question about which topics you can expect contributions from them in 2024.

Outsourcing, kickback fees, alternative investments, ESG challenges and competition with Ireland were among the topics of the most popular columns published on Investment Officer Luxembourg in 2023.

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.

In 2024, the investment landscape will evolve with fixed income markets rebounding, equity markets diversifying beyond the ‘Magnificent Seven’, and private markets favouring operationally robust mid-market firms.

Investment Officer has previewed 2024 with specific articles looking at fixed income, at equities and at private markets:

The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of Belgium’s largest private bank Degroof Petercam by CA Indosuez, a subsidiary of the Paris-based Crédit Agricole group.

The Commission said on Monday that it concluded that the proposed concentration does not raise competition concerns given the limited market positions of the companies involved.

This week’s overview of transfers, appointments, promotions and other people news includes updates from Better Finance, Ostrum Asset Management, Invesco and Columbia Threadneedle.

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.