Asset Servicing

Foord Asset Management, a firm with South African roots and a Luxembourg presence since 2013, is expanding its global reach by offering long-term investors in Australia a new feeder fund for its Foord Global Equity Fund registered in the Grand Duchy.

The new Foord Global Equity Australian Feeder Fund invests exclusively in the Foord Sicav- Foord Global Equity Fund (Luxembourg). The fund held assets worth 472 million dollars at the end of 2021, with holdings in for example Alphabet, Tencent, JD.com, Freeport-McMoran and Alibaba. 

Apex Group is adding another firm to its growing string of acquisitions, announcing that it plans to take over Amsterdam-based Darwin Depositary Services, a firm that provides depositary services to alternative investment funds in Europe. Financial details were not disclosed.

As the only independent AIFMD depositary in mainland Europe, Darwin provides services to a range of international clients, including hedge funds, real estate, debt and private equity funds as well as funds investing in infrastructure and renewable energy.

European Depositary Bank, the Luxembourg-based provider of banking, depositary and custody solutions, on Monday announced that it has appointed David Claus as CEO and member of its board of directors. Claus until recently was the Luxembourg head of BNY Mellon.

The bank, known as EDB, is part of Apex Group and is one of the largest providers of depositary services in Europe for regulated Ucits and alternative funds, with over 160 billion in assets under depositary as of May 31.

At Apex Group, present in Luxembourg also with management companies such as FundRock and LRI Invest, each new acquisition and partnership announcement marks a waypoint on its long-term strategic journey. That journey still has some way to go, Apex’s founder and CEO Peter Hughes said in an interview with Investment Officer. “In terms of what the potential is, half-way certainly feels about right.”

Unregulated alternative investments continued to be dynamic and successful in Luxembourg last year thanks to the modernisation in recent years of the Grand Duchy’s regulatory regime for private markets, consultancy firm PWC Luxembourg noted when releasing the latest version of its Observatory for Management Companies.

Investment services powerhouse State Street, leader in Luxembourg’s asset services market, is undergoing a transformation. The upcoming integration of Brown Brothers Harriman, data management, ESG requirements, digital asset management and the rollout of its upgraded Alpha business platform are on top of mind for country head Ricardo Lamanna. “We create an environment where we progressively shift from being an operational organisation in Luxembourg to being a client-facing organisation.”

Fund administrators active in Luxembourg will be required to produce an annual report on their governance and internal organisation from next year onwards as part of a long-awaited effort by financial supervisor CSSF to modernise a 30-year old supervisory framework in this field.

Apex Group Ltd continues to add management companies to its group through acquisitions. On Wednesday it said it plans to acquire the fund services and third-party management company business operations of Maitland International Holdings plc, an international fund services provider with a presence in Luxembourg, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Has growth in new registrations of Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, known as Raifs, in Luxembourg peaked? As Investment Officer readers have noted, growth tailed off in February and March. Marc Kriegsmann, Raif market specialist at leading Luxembourg Raif issuer Hauck & Aufhäuser, said the dynamic in the Raif market may be affected by increasingly stringent risk control processes and the presence of suitable alternatives. 

Growth in funds registered as Reserved Alternative Investment Funds (RAIFs) in Luxembourg has slowed in February and March, according to a data analysis by Investment Officer Luxembourg.