Wealth Managers

Luxembourg life assurance and wealth management company OneLife has been fined 580,000 euro by the country’s insurance supervisor Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) after “certain failures” were detected in the firm’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) systems.

Luxembourg’s Fuchs & Associés Finance SA is no longer allowed to provide services in Belgium after its Luxembourg licence as a financial services professional was revoked by CSSF, Belgium’s financial markets supervisor FSMA said.

Four private banks in Luxembourg have received the highest ranking in the latest “High Net Worth” report by London-based rankings and insights intelligence company Chambers and Partners.

Bank Julius Baer Luxembourg S.A., Banque de Luxembourg SA, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA and Pictet & Cie (Europe) SA - in alphabetical order - were each assigned a ‘band 1’ ranking, the highest in Chamber’s ranking system from one to six.

Through various legislative acts over the past 10-15 years, the EU’s push to democratise private markets has transformed how private equity does business, with a heavy helping of technology and fund management tools allowing for what could be a massive influx of smaller-denominated investors. Market participants are feeling their way forward into the new paradigm, some being quite certain that change has now come in the impending form of the new European Long-term Investment Fund.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. This applies also for well-intended regulations on environmental, social and governance. Because of the growth of ESG-focused investments in recent years, a new problem pops up: the risk of greenwashing. 

Fewer new reserved alternative investment funds are being registered in Luxembourg this year as investment managers are more cautious and VC fundraising has declined. Investor appetite appears reduced but has not disappeared. Dry powder is said to remain available among institutional investors in the alternatives market. 

Crédit Agricole, ABN Amro, and “one or two Swiss private banks” have been named as finalists in the bidding process for the acquisition of Belgian wealth management and investment bank group Degroof Petercam, French business daily Les Echos reported on Friday, citing multiple sources.

Client experience is becoming a more important competitive battleground in asset management, particularly for wealth managers who face pressure to meet the needs of younger, digital native investors. Nearly 40% of asset managers in the survey said that the client experience was a key point of differentiation versus their competitors, up from just 7% a year earlier, according to a study released this week.

A stellar performance of a small number of listed tech companies is largely responsible for the recent recovery in public stock markets. For Ben Prade, partner at international tech investor GP Bullhound, it remains to be seen whether this can serve as a full market revival. Nevertheless, he is upbeat about the prospects for private tech investments, saying 2023 can become “one of those really great vintages”.

A Memorandum of Understanding on financial services agreed between the EU and the UK, published on 19 May, could elevate the tone of the discussions and lead to a more productive relationship. “It’s a very encouraging confirmation that the relations between the EU and the UK are warming up,” said Nicolas Mackel, the CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the public-private Luxembourg agency for the development of the financial sector.