Investment Officer Luxembourg

Belgium’s Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) market finds itself navigating through a tax system inconsistency that favours unregistered products, according to Sébastien Lippens, the founding partner at Privafin. In a market where ETFs are highly sought after for their simplicity and cost-effectiveness, Belgian investors are urged to tread carefully due to the complexity of the country’s tax rules for investment products.

More than half of family offices want to add even more private investments to portfolios by 2024. The most popular category is private credit. Cash, public equities and high-yield lose out.

The recent inflation bombshell must have rattled Powell and his cohorts, throwing a wrench into their plans for imminent rate cuts in pursuit of a smooth economic descent. Equities, too, find themselves on shakier ground.

Private banks are navigating challenges in discerning customers’ sustainability preferences, hindered by a lack of common definitions and necessary data. The struggle persists as new legislation under Mifid 2, effective since August 2022, mandates including sustainability factors in suitability tests. Oxford Risk’s survey among wealth managers reveals industry-wide difficulties in implementation.

Protracted discussions over the EU’s new regime for European Long Term Investment Funds, known as Eltifs, are delaying the launch of new funds for these private asset investments.

This week’s overview of transfers, appointments, promotions and other people news includes updates from MFS, Candriam, TMF and Eiopa.

Nicolas Mackel, currently serving as the ceo of Luxembourg for Finance, is preparing to assume a new role as Luxembourg’s permanent representative to the European Union in Brussels. 

According to Luxemburger Wort and RTL, Mackel’s transition from the financial sector to a diplomatic post is expected to occur in September, marking his return to the international diplomatic arena.