Investment Officer

The first of January marks a significant milestone in the European Union’s efforts to promote sustainable and responsible investing. The EU introduces the level 2 Regulatory Technical Standards for the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as SFDR. This requires sustainable investment funds to make a bigger effort to explain how they seek to achieve a positive impact.

Engaging with investors on sustainable investing requires answering two questions: How do sustainability factors impact returns? How do investment choices impact the world? “Good Practices in ESG Reporting” is the topic of this Benelux webinar hosted by Morningstar and Investment Officer.

Law firm Clifford Chance has appointed Simone Schmitt as counsel in its corporate practice in Luxembourg.  Schmitt joins the firm from  Linklaters, where she had been for more than seven years.

Schmitt is a qualified lawyer in Luxembourg and has extensive experience in advising multinational clients on acquisitions, restructurings and joint ventures. She is an expert in managing transactions for private equity players in Europe and the United States, the firm said.

Jan Kemper will step down as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of German neobank N26, he announced in a post on social media. He only joined the challenger bank in July 2021. 

N26, one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs with more than eight million clients, is partly owned by Luxembourg-based venture capital firm Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital. Ilavska is among a range of VC firms who collectively have invested 1.8 billion euro in N26.

The number of private equity portfolios in the secondary market is increasing as both fund managers and investors in private equity funds seek liquidity opportunities. 

In its private markets outlook, BlackRock focuses on private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. “Given the long lead time between the decision to sell a private equity asset and the sale, we expect more of these opportunities in 2023.”

Financial supervisor CSSF is putting on the thumbscrews. It has imposed individual financial fines on a total of seven managers and directors at two specialised investment funds in Luxembourg. The fines were issued because they sent “incomplete information” to the supervisor. It is the first time such fines were issued under a 2007 law that governs these funds. 

JPMorgan Asset Management plans to convert a number of active mutual funds in the US to passive ETFs next year. The asset manager is not alone. Globally, passive is starting to catch up with active.

Swiss-based real estate investment manager Empira has sold a 16,000 square metre property project in Vienna for an undisclosed amount. The property had been held through a Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund.

The Zug, Switzerland based firm had only bought the property two years ago. In a statement, Empira spoke about a “successful sale at attractive terms… exactly in line with the investment approach of this product”. 

Luxembourg-based Cube Infrastructure Managers has finalised the purchase of the Czech activities of German energy firm MVV Energie AG. The transaction has been done through the “Cube Infrastructure Fund III” brownfield reserve alternative fund, under the corporate form of Cube III Energy CZ s.r.o. Financial details were not disclosed.

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has admitted China International Capital Corporation as a new trading and listing member with immediate effect. CICC will enable the indirect trading of shares listed on Shanghai the Shenzen stock exchanges via the Luxembourg bourse.