Wealth Managers

BOS Wealth Management SA, the Luxembourg-based European wealth management arm of Bank of Singapore, has been handed a 210,000 euro fine by Luxembourg’s financial regulator CSSF for non-compliance with laws designed to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

The European Union’s Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that private information on the ultimate ownership of companies and investment funds registered in the Luxembourg Business Register does not always need to be made available to the general public. The court ruled that fundamental rights of individuals can sometimes outweigh the general interest of fighting money laundering.

Private market investments have become overweight in institutional portfolios following this year’s substantial declines in public markets. Half of investors are waiting “as long as necessary” for this dislocation to subside. The other half is concerned, a new survey by Bfinance shows. The report is of particular interest to Luxembourg, where interest in private assets and alternative investments has increased significantly in recent years.

Even clients with the most defensive risk profile stand to lose more than -12 per cent at Dutch asset managers this year. “Defensive clients have 2008 experience in their portfolios. And according to many, we are not even at the exit yet.”

Europe should not count on a traditional economic recovery. Due to second-round effects, inflation will widen further by 2023. And, ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski says, don’t count on gas prices coming down either. Nay, on the contrary, the real energy crisis will come next year. 

Orcadia Asset Management, active in the Benelux and France, has surpassed the 1.1 billion euro mark in assets under management. This allows the asset manager to operate profitably from Luxembourg. “Mergers and acquisitions in the Belgian landscape only make sense if there is a cultural match.”

Luxembourg’s bank clients remained conservative in 2021, keeping nearly all - or 80 percent - of their assets in savings, even when interest rates are low, a survey conducted jointly by the Luxembourg bank association ABBL and financial regulator CSSF shows.

This survey showed a significant increase in deposits and in the number of loans granted. It also confirmed underlying trends such as the increasing use of online services. The figures for employment and the number of customers remain stable. 

Belgian private bank Puilaetco, a unit of Luxembourg-headquartered Quintet, is integrating fintech Abbove’s technology solution into its wealth advice service offering.

The bank’s clients will now be able to use the Richer Life Plan service, giving them a broader view of their wealth planning, said Puilaetco’s Country CEO Ludivine Pilate (photo) and Abbove’s CEO Guillaume Desclée. 

Infrastructure is not immune to the current economic malaise, but it is important to isolate macroeconomic variables for each investment. “Analysing sectors or asset classes is not enough: you have to analyse each asset to determine its macro impact.”

So says Heiko Schupp (photo), infrastructure fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle, in an interview with InvestmentOfficer.be.

While industry’s investment losses are beginning to show, the strong performance from recent years makes institutional investors reluctant to change their investment course. “Not an easy situation,” says the chief of Europe’s biggest pension body.