Asset Servicing

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) on Wednesday has announced that it has launched its Short-Term Alternative Finance Fund under its newly created umbrella fund platform leveraging the Luxembourg regime for Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, or Raifs. The move comes in response to growing investor demand for such credit strategies, the firm said.

Waystone Luxembourg on Tuesday said it will provide single-umbrella ManCo and related services to US-based Fred Alger Management’s SICAV range.

The partnership will add 600 million US dollars to Waystone’s AuM, raising it to 2,000 million US dollars and is part of the firm’s international expansion effort in recent years.

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) has imposed a fine of 162,500 euro on Intertrust (Luxembourg) S.à r.l., a specialist in the professional financial sector, for not adhering to its custodial duties as outlined in Luxembourg’s financial sector legislation, particularly concerning the management of non-financial assets.

Sweden-based Carnegie Fonder, an independent asset management stalwart, has ushered in Universal Investment Group as the new management company for its Luxembourg-based Ucits Sicav fund range. The announcement marks a significant phase in the operations of Carnegie Fonder, a venerable entity within the Carnegie Group with a history spanning over two centuries.

Luxembourg’s private equity services business of Partners Group, which accounts for more than a third of its revenue, held up well last year in what otherwise was a challenging year for the Swiss-based firm.

Partners Group on Tuesday reported that its revenue from management services in Luxembourg rose 2.3 percent last year to 684.5 million Swiss francs (710 million euro).

Luxembourg-based Alter Domus, one of the world’s biggest asset services firms, has secured a new strategic investment from London-based private equity firm Cinven. Alter Domus said the transaction will increase its value to 4.9 billion euros, which indicates that Cinven agreed to pay the firm’s existing shareholders - its founders and Permira - more than half of that amount. 

Brussels has opted to abandon the proposed establishment of a ‘European passport’ for depositary banks. While initially touted as an innovative concept, the idea was fraught with potential market challenges and risked undermining the work of supervisors. The alternative approach that has emerged now is being hailed as a success by Luxembourg banking association ABBL. 

The market for Venture Capital (VC) experienced a challenging year. Rising interest rates and general uncertainty around valuations made it hard for funds to raise capital. In addition, the market is strongly segmented and therefore often not attractive for large investors. Despite these obstacles, there are ways to utilise the potential that is hidden here – with the help of experienced partners. 

Major domestic Luxembourg bank Spuerkeess will move the majority of its fund portfolio to Euroclear FundsPlace as part of its effort to streamline and cut costs in its fund business, the bank has announced this week.

The bank said it “has decided to move away from transfer agents and centralise the distribution and execution services of its funds.”

Euroclear’s funds platform has started to manage the lion’s share of the Spuerkeess portfolio  and “collect trailer fees on external custodians” as well.

In a significant leadership change, Robbert Booij has been announced as the new Chief Executive Officer of Eurex Frankfurt AG, taking the reins from Michael Peters in July 2024. Booij, currently the CEO Europe at ABN AMRO Clearing Bank N.V., will join the Executive Board of Eurex Frankfurt AG from 1 May 2024.