Investment Officer

Antwerp-based asset manager Merit Capital will lose its Belgian brokerage licence, according to a judgement by Belgium’s Council of State published on 26 April. Merit Capital has been struggling for years with its governance model and profitability. Having its license revoked casts a cloud over its arrangement with Frankfurt-based Renell Bank, which announced in October it had agreed to acquire Merit subject to conditions.

A relatively new asset owner-led platform providing information needed to decide on sustainable development investments is gaining global traction now that the world’s biggest asset management firm Blackrock has decided to join as a subscriber.

Fundrock, one of Europe’s largest third-party management companies with a significant presence in Luxembourg, on Monday said it has been appointed by Royal London Asset Management Funds plc, also known as RLAM, to provide management and distribution services for its Irish fund range.

Hedge funds with a macro or multi-strategy focus were among the best performing funds in the first quarter, shielding investors from geopolitical turmoil, high inflation numbers and shifting monetary policies, according to Preqin, a privately-held London-based investment data company that provides financial data and information on the alternative assets market.

The firm said that, in a historical context, first quarter performance was “certainly disappointing but hedge funds managed to guard investors against major pullbacks.” 

In the first quarter, investors sold off their Chinese shares en masse. Foreign investors who had burned their money in Russia were afraid that a similar scenario would unfold in China, potentially leaving them with stranded assets. But there is a silver lining here, Louis-Vincent Gave, co-founder and director of research company GaveKal, told Investment Officer. “A Taiwan invasion is less likely now than it was a few months ago.”

The International Monetary Fund has warned of a more permanent fragmentation of the world economy into geopolitical blocks with distinct technology standards, cross-border payment systems, and reserve currencies. The fund has lowered its growth outlook for the global economy and warned that inflation in many countries is threatening to undermine future growth. “Inflation has become a clear and present danger in many countries,” the IMF said.

Rosheen Dries has joined EY Luxembourg as the firm’s new wealth and asset management tax leader. She brings more than 25 years of reporting and tax experience in Ucits and alternative finance. 

Wealth management platform FNZ and Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group’s post-trade services provider, said that they have agreed a strategic partnership that will help asset managers get a better view of information required for the distribution of investment information.

Apex Group, a global asset services specialist present in Luxembourg also with its FundRock and LRI Invest subsidiaries, on Tuesday said it has acquired a majority stake in FTS, a US-based tax services firm serving clients in the alternative investment and family office sectors, for an undisclosed amount.  

In this second podcast from Alfi’s 2022 European Asset Management conference we enlighten you with valuable insights on what’s happening in Luxembourg’s asset management ecosystem. You will hear about Luxembourg’s new securitisation law, about collateralised loan obligations, about plans for the European Long-Term Investment Fund, known as ELTIF, as a new type of collective investment framework.