Investment Officer

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week issued a dire warning concerning the rapidly expanding private credit sector. With Luxembourg standing as a pivotal hub for private credit in both Europe and globally, the IMF’s cautionary stance merits serious attention from the Grand Duchy’s financial community.

The roller coaster ride of the private markets hit a notable dip in 2023, per McKinsey & Company’s annual deep dive. Last year, the industry saw a global fundraising decrease of 22 percent to a little over one trillion dollars, marking the lowest point since 2017. This downturn reflects broader economic pressures, from rising financing costs to market uncertainty, but there’s more to the story.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) on Wednesday has announced that it has launched its Short-Term Alternative Finance Fund under its newly created umbrella fund platform leveraging the Luxembourg regime for Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, or Raifs. The move comes in response to growing investor demand for such credit strategies, the firm said.

This week’s overview of transfers, appointments, promotions and other people news includes updates from Amundi, Arthur D. Little, IIA Luxembourg, ACA and EFG. 

Martin Rauchenwald

Martin Rauchenwald (photo) has been appointed as managing partner and global practice leader for financial services at Arthur D. Little. 

Nearly a decade after the European Long-Term Investment Fund (Eltif) made its initial, albeit underwhelming, debut, Natixis Investment Managers heralds the arrival of its successor, Eltif 2.0. “The threshold reduction is a gamechanger,” said Anne Macey, Natixis’ Global Head of Public Affairs, in a note to investors.

This week’s overview of transfers, appointments, promotions and other people news includes updates from Credit Suisse, Carmignac, Zumo and European consumer interests group Beuc.

Kristofer Barrett

Kristofer Barrett (photo) has been appointed to the London-based investment team of Carmignac as global equities manager. He will join the business on 8 April 2024.

Waystone Luxembourg on Tuesday said it will provide single-umbrella ManCo and related services to US-based Fred Alger Management’s SICAV range.

The partnership will add 600 million US dollars to Waystone’s AuM, raising it to 2,000 million US dollars and is part of the firm’s international expansion effort in recent years.

Vanguard has edged past BlackRock to secure the top position in Broadridge Financial Solutions’ 2024 Fund Brand 50 (FB50) rankings for the United States. Vanguard also has emerged as the biggest riser among the FB50 rankings in Europe, where it now is a top-10 fund brand.

Luxembourg continues to dominate the global cross-border fund registration landscape, holding a 54.6 percent market share despite a slight 0.4 percent drop in 2023, according to PwC Luxembourg’s latest Global Fund Distribution Poster. The 24th edition of this annual posted provides an in-depth analysis of the fund distribution trends across over 40 countries.

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) has imposed a fine of 162,500 euro on Intertrust (Luxembourg) S.à r.l., a specialist in the professional financial sector, for not adhering to its custodial duties as outlined in Luxembourg’s financial sector legislation, particularly concerning the management of non-financial assets.