Investment Officer Luxembourg

Private market fund managers are entering 2026 with record fundraising confidence, and much of that expansion is being engineered out of Luxembourg, according to Carne Group. The Grand Duchy has become the operational nerve centre for European private capital, hosting the majority of Europe’s ELTIFs and an expanding ecosystem of third-party management companies. Yet as assets surge and semi-liquid structures multiply, Carne’s survey finds that institutional investors are sending a firm signal: growth will only be tolerated if governance, valuation discipline and liquidity management meet a significantly higher bar.

The Federal Reserve has little appetite to cut interest rates in the near term. Minutes of the January meeting show policymakers are increasingly concerned that inflation could stay above the 2 percent target for longer than expected. Markets might have to reprice their expectations, economists say.

Wealthy families are no longer anchored to a single country, and neither are their assets. As heirs disperse and capital flows across jurisdictions, succession planning is shifting from domestic estate structuring to cross-border patrimonial engineering, a transition that is quietly reshaping Luxembourg’s role in European wealth management.

Since Trump’s reelection as president of the United States, the world has been on edge. Geopolitical tensions are dominating the markets, and the role of the dollar is once again under discussion. Still, I find it difficult to translate that into the idea that this is the moment for the euro to step out of the greenback’s shadow. There are simply too many loose ends.

Listed real estate has become one of the most conspicuous laggards in global markets. After four consecutive calendar years of underperformance against the MSCI World, valuations now sit below their historical median relative to broader equities, according to Cohen & Steers. For long-term allocators, the question now is whether this reset offers a cyclical entry point or a structural repricing.

The European ETF market grew in January by a record 46.9 billion euro. In the shadow of that growth, a price war is taking place: mainstream ETFs are now being offered with an expense ratio of 0.03 percent. Will Europe soon welcome the “free” ETF, as in the US?

Investments in private markets are still characterized by limited information and imperfect transparency, particularly when compared with public assets. Asset managers increasingly see economic value in addressing that gap, turning greater transparency into a business model in its own right.

Political nervousness is rising over the potential victory of the far right in the French presidential elections of April 2027, as that could lead to less European integration. But the Investment Centre at ING Belgium currently sees no reason to adjust its investment policy.

This week’s overview of industry appointments in Luxembourg and elsewhere in Europe.