Asset Servicing

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. 

Luxembourg’s financial supervisor, releasing its eagerly anticipated guidance for investment funds exposed to Russia, has outlined a range of segregation options to handle stranded assets in Russia. Funds also were reminded to assess if they are potentially in breach of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. 

Financial sanctions against Russia and the exposure of investment funds to Russian assets were widely discussed at the 2022 European Asset Management Conference in Luxembourg, hosted by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, or Alfi, on 22-23 March.

New options for trading securitised debt products are available in Luxembourg after its parliament approved long-awaited amendments to its securitisation law. In an interview with Investment Officer, Harneys’ counsel and securitisation lawyer Massimiliano della Zonca sees it as a game changer for the Grand Duchy. 

The popularity of digital assets will lead to significant changes for the financial industry, including within the area of asset custody. Today’s global custody industry goes back to regulatory changes in the 1970s. Digital assets, the most well-known being Bitcoin, differ in several ways from traditional assets, including the role of information technology, specifically of private key management, which will be accompanied by potential regulatory differences.

Asset services provider Apex Group said it has been appointed by Israel-based OurCrowd, a global venture capital investment platform, to provide fund services and to help attract investors in Australia and New Zealand. Formed in 2013, OurCrowd is Israel’s most active venture capital firm, having deployed over 1.8 billion dollars in committed capital to date. 

Even as limited trading resumed on Moscow’s exchange on Thursday, prospects for emerging market funds exposed to Russia remained cloudy as determining accurate asset values continued to be nearly impossible. Fund managers now await guidance from financial supervisors before taking next steps on suspended funds.

Luxembourg is discussing the innovative use of a particular liquidity management tool known as “side pockets” in order to deal with the suspensions of investment funds with significant exposure to Russia.

The head of Luxembourg’s top financial regulator on Tuesday called on the country’s asset management industry to step up its efforts and make sure that Russian oligarchs don’t evade sanctions by hiding their money in European investment funds.

M&G Investments is preparing to transform its Luxembourg hub for further growth in Europe with the objective of generating half of total group revenue within the next few years, its managing director Micaela Forelli told Investment Officer Luxembourg.