Investment Officer Luxembourg

Family wealth managers are more and more challenged by demands placed on them by digitalisation, increasingly stringent regulations and complex cross-border taxation requirements. It’s an environment that encourages some wealthy families to join forces with others and enter their investments into a Multi-Family Office business, moving away from the traditional single-family office. “It’s the correct answer to the market.”

Alarmed efforts by European green and microfinance fund providers, led by Dutch firms Triodos and ASN, to get the European Commission to rectify what looks like an omission in its proposed investment fund legislation risk being dismissed as “small beer” and may be overlooked. “We have to keep making noise.”

Is private equity, like Amundi’s Chief Investment Officer Vincent Mortier recently said, a Ponzi scheme? Or is there another reason to fear this asset class?

Luxembourg’s private equity business has experienced a boom in recent years as the Grand Duchy’s improved regime for alternative investments helped it benefit from strong growth in global private markets. For professional investors - family offices and pension funds alike - private markets have become an important asset class.

Even before the European Central Bank has ended the current buying programme, ECB members are already working on a possible next programme. If you are still wondering whether the ECB’s policy might look different now that inflation is at record levels, you now have your answer.

Assets worth over 200 million euros stored at Luxembourg’s freeport, formally known as  High-Security Hub, have been frozen as part of the EU sanctions against Russia, Luxembourg finance minister Yuriko Backes has told parliament. This follows the 4.3 billion euros in frozen Russian-linked assets that were announced by the ministry of finance last week.

Firms promoting Exchange Traded Funds in Europe have reported 2.5 billion euro in net inflows for last month, despite a persistently difficult market environment, market research firm Refinitiv Lipper said on Tuesday. The inflows remain “far below” the 12-month rolling average of 11.5 billion euro per month.

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal by the European Commission to treat nuclear energy and natural gas as sustainable economic activities. If the vote is confirmed by absolute majority in the July 7 plenary meeting, the Commission’s proposal to update the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities will be sent back to the drawing board.

British asset manager Fundsmith follows a simple strategy: invest in strong companies, don’t pay too much and then keep them in the portfolio, preferably forever.

Firms selling Ucits and alternative investment funds are experiencing a downturn linked to the dire international economic situation, the war in Ukraine and the lockdown in China. Investor demand for these types of funds has dropped sharply, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama), who released figures showing that net assets of Ucits and AIFs have declined by 4.5% this past quarter.