Asset Servicing

Valuation sits at the heart of Luxembourg’s private markets ecosystem, yet supervisors remain unconvinced that current practices are consistently robust. Speaking at an event organised by Kroll and the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, the CSSF flagged shortcomings in the review and approval of valuation models at investment fund managers, underlining that governance, documentation and independent challenge still require closer attention as private assets continue to scale.

Multi-asset benchmarks assume costless and frictionless implementation, setting a high bar for allocation funds to outperform after fees. Even so, these “one-stop-shop” solutions remain appealing for many investors.

Luxembourg has renewed the mandate of Claude Marx as director general of its financial regulator, extending his leadership of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier for another five years as the authority marks a decade of profound institutional change.

This week’s overview of appointments and other people news in and around Luxembourg.

Amundi’s full-year results underscore how Europe’s largest asset manager has become a formidable ETF machine. Yet behind the record passive inflows, profits still rely heavily on traditional active management and a deliberate push into higher-margin activities.

Asset manager L&G is planning to set up hybrid “crossover” funds alongside its extensive passive business. These funds will contain both public and private investments. With this in mind, the British asset manager is working with specialists such as Blackstone.

The comparison is increasingly common. Luxembourg is often described as the Singapore of Europe. It is meant as praise, and rightly so. But the comparison deserves refinement, because it cuts both ways.

An uptick of volatility in the dollar is forcing European investors to confront an awkward choice. With hedging already expensive, some are paying up to protect against further weakness. Others are opting to take the risk, arguing the bulk of the adjustment may already be behind them.

Jerome Powell is stepping down as chair of the Federal Reserve. Kevin Warsh will succeed him. For investors, the big question is whether US central bank policy will really change. The short answer: yes, possibly. And the reason is AI.

Europe’s failure to complete its capital markets integration carries a measurable economic cost of around 150 billion euro per year in lost investment, according to a new report from the Citi Institute. Over a ten-year period, the drag on economic growth could amount to roughly 1.5 percent of GDP.