Raymond Frenken

A reserved alternative investment fund registered in Luxembourg turns out to have played a central role in the 165 million euro financing of the Palazzo Marini, Bill Gates’ new six-star hotel in the centre of Rome, close to the Trevi fountain. The team that supported the deal from Luxembourg was at law firm Dentons, with European Capital Partners SA as AIFM.

Canada’s main pension fund, CPP Investments, has agreed to become a major shareholder in Universal Investment, a leading third-party Super ManCo in Luxembourg, by acquiring a significant stake in the firm from private equity and venture capital firm Montagu. The deal demonstrates that investors worldwide see further potential in Luxembourg’s growing asset services market.

Most economists, fixed income analysts and investment strategists agree that the European Central Bank on Thursday will raise interest rates. The key question is: will the hawks get their 75 basis point hike? Or will doves be heard with a 50 point increase? Some still question if hiking rates into a recession is the right thing to do.

One month after the EU ordered the investment sector to ask clients for their sustainability preferences, investment firms appear to show limited enthusiasm for complying with the new requirements as complexity around the EU’s ESG rules persists and greenwashing fears linger.

Finland’s Mandatum Asset Management and fund services platform Universal Investment on Monday said they have launched a new open-ended Senior Secured Loan Fund for professional investors in Europe that will finance leveraged buyouts in Scandinavia and Europe. The fund is structured as a Luxembourg Raif and targets approximately one billion euro on the long term.

European investment funds in real estate and alternative assets are vulnerable and could face liquidity risks in the event of a sudden investor sell-off, according to a senior official at Europe’s main financial markets supervisor, the European Securities and Markets Authority, or Esma. “It is one of the tricky issues here,” he said.

BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments on Thursday said that it has appointed Fanny Nosetti (photo) as chief executive officer. The appointment means that Guy Wagner now can “focus entirely” on his role  as chief investment officer, managing the firm’s flagship, 1.8 billion euro BL Global Flexible Euro fund and continuing to refine the investment approach he has developed with his teams. Since 2005 Wagner served both as CEO and CIO.

Growth in funds registered as Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, known as Raifs, in Luxembourg has increased considerably in the first half of this year , according to an analysis of data from the Luxembourg Business Registry by Investment Officer Luxembourg.

Luxempart, a Luxembourg-listed investment and private equity company, has posted a consolidated net loss of 55.4 million euro for the first half as its investment income was hit by “extremely choppy” conditions in financial markets and the economy.

The loss compares to a profit of 499 million euros in the same period a year earlier. The firm said it maintained its net assets at 2.078 billion euros by the end of June, down slightly from from 2.169 billion a year earlier.

The European Central Bank needs to review its special programmes that make available cheap money to banks in Europe in order to become more effective in fighting inflation, Banque de France governor François Villeroy de Galhau told central bankers at their meeting in Jackson Hole.