Investment Officer

Tensions in the banking sector increase the likelihood of a recession during the year, according to chief investment officer Guy Wagner at asset manager BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments.

Nevertheless, prior to the onset of the banking turmoil, the resilience of the global economy was still in evidence, with service activities continuing to benefit from robust household demand due to continued full employment in most countries, Wagner and his team said in their latest monthly market report.

Luxembourg’s financial supervisor CSSF on Monday said it expects managers of Liability Driven Investment funds, also known as LDI funds, to maintain yield buffers set last year at levels introduced to make these funds resilient to the UK Gilts crisis.

Global asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments on Monday said it has appointed Jill Griffin to the newly created role of head of Luxembourg. She will report to David Logan, global chief operating officer.

Fund and corporate services firm Alter Domus is making possible “vastly reduced” commuting times for its large staff through the opening of two new satellite offices located near Luxembourg’s borders with France and Germany, as part of its “ongoing commitment to flexible working arrangements.”

The two new offices are located in the border towns of Steinfort and Frisange, and are “intended for Alter Domus employees travelling in from Belgium and France, respectively,” according to an undated press release sent to Investment Officer on Thursday.

This Luxembourg edition of IO Talks hears about the ambitions of Waystone Management Company’s newly appointed Luxembourg CEO Denis Harty. 

Financial supervisor CSSF on Thursday said it has imposed a fine of 178,600 euro on European Depository Bank SA, a unit of Apex Group.

A 2021 on-site inspection by the CSSF looked into the firm’s IT risks and found “infringements” relating to internal governance and IT organisation, IT outsourcing and IT risk management, the supervisor said. 

This Luxembourg edition of IO Talks hears about the latest developments in the realm of blockchain technology in the asset management and investment industry. 

This edition of IO Talks Luxembourg hears from the managing director at M&G in Luxembourg, Micaela Forelli, on the firm’s positioning in the European funds market, on private markets and Eltifs, on cost savings and how the firm’s redundancy programme at M&G group is affecting its Luxembourg business.

BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in South America, said it acquired Luxembourg-based private bank FIS Privatbank in a move that should enable its Latin American clients to diversify their investment portfolios in developed countries while expanding its European client base beyond Portugal, Spain and the UK.

Total interest income at Luxembourg’s 120 credit institutions last year surged 39 percent as most banks were able to boost their margins from borrowing and lending activities on the back of higher central bank interest rates, according to data posted by financial supervisor CSSF. The supervisor also said, like last year, that 23 banks in the grand duchy were not profitable.