Investing

An extrapolation of Preqin’s global projection for private capital demand to Luxembourg suggests the grand duchy’s private and alternative investment market could add more than 1000 billion euro in private capital during the coming years.

Over the past 12 months, the yield on corporate bonds has been as much as minus 22 per cent. As a result, the effective yield on investment grade corporate bonds has now risen to 5.5 per cent at a duration of just over 6 years. This is in line with the return earned on investments according to the tax authorities, on which 31 per cent tax has to be paid this year.

At the same time, most banks still do not give interest on current account balances, but that is not subject to tax these days.

For Zurich-based Serpentine Ventures, a venture asset manager, Luxembourg is a key gateway to reaching international investors. The firm is leveraging the grand duchy’s regime for alternative investment funds for four of its venture capital funds that nurture Swiss startups.

Panic appears to rule the world’s most liquid financial market, the foreign exchange market. The Bank of England had to announce emergency measures on Wednesday to stop the pound’s dump. Behind the panic is a systemic crisis: a dramatic fall in European currencies against the dollar, an analysis shows.

Not only the pound, but also the euro has been failing against the dollar for more than a year. Falling currencies are eating into investors’ returns and specialists believe that their devaluation against the dollar will not bottom out for the time being.

Nuveen Infrastructure’s Glennmont Partners, a major clean energy infrastructure manager, on Thursday said it has raised 250 million euro through its energy transition enhanced credit II strategy, or ETEC II, based on a Luxembourg alternative fund.

The ETEC II fund is one of the new Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, or Raifs, that were officially registered in Luxembourg this month. 

“Capital markets are in complete disarray and we are detecting structural changes,” said Ewout van Schaick, head of multi assets at NN Investment Partners, talking to InvestmentOfficer.nl in a podcast interview. 

While industry’s investment losses are beginning to show, the strong performance from recent years makes institutional investors reluctant to change their investment course. “Not an easy situation,” says the chief of Europe’s biggest pension body.

Top market experts at Europe’s biggest fund manager, Amundi, do not believe that the upcoming elections in Italy will trigger much volatility in Italian bond markets, although a spike could present a buying opportunity. Italy’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for the end of this week, Sunday 25 September.

Central bank interest rate hikes seems to have had their desired effect, with signs pointing to the end of the very high inflation of late, but, according to three chief investment officers at M&G Investments, the world’s economy isn’t out of the doldrums yet, especially because of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.

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.