Investment Officer Luxembourg

Appetite for Luxembourg life insurance products declined significantly last year, according to the annual reports that the two largest unit-linked insurance firms, Lombard International and OneLife, posted this week.

While the name Noshaq is appearing in an increasing number of Belgian and international investment files, it still doesn’t ring a bell for many people. This is hardly surprising, given that the investment company, whose aim is to further develop and transform the economic fabric of the city and province of Liège, works rather behind the scenes.

“Fund managers are making record bonuses” is a headline often heard in London, Frankfurt, and Paris, but rarely in Luxembourg. While we dominate in back-office services, these jurisdictions excel in providing front-office services, an area Luxembourg’s fund industry needs to develop.

Over the past five years, the Luxembourg fund industry has experienced a slowdown in the growth of AUM and the number of funds, which has been detrimental to the economy. The solution is to grow the industry via horizontal or vertical integration.

Worried about the protection of European investors, illiquid investments, and financial stability, Esma wants its table to be reinstated into the Eltif standards rulebook, although with some significant modifications.  

Asset managers still work with a variety of custodian banks, but is this truly necessary? According to experts from the Netherlands, the perfect custodial institution doesn’t exist. Moreover, no one wants to be dependent on a single entity.

At the time of writing, the “mother of all equity indices,” the S&P 500 Index, is down a significant 4% from its early April peak. This downturn is partly driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Of course, this in itself isn’t something to cheer about. However, there’s another critical reason why stock prices are under pressure. Interest rates are inching closer to 5%, entering what many consider the danger zone.

Emerging market debt denominated in local currencies enjoyed a strong year last year, but the first quarter of 2024 saw hardly any movement. For investors looking for diversification, we discuss a leading fund in this category. 

Last week, my colleague Ronald van Genderen covered stocks from emerging markets and their underperformance compared to developed nations over the short and long term. Indeed, this asset class has failed to live up to the high expectations set after a strong period in the early 2000s. 

Among the recently registered AIFs in the CSSF’s AIF Identifiers dataset is “Yeldo Varedo S.C. SP”, a fund registered on behalf of Yeldo, an Italian/Swiss investment manager focusing on originating real estate deals. The firm has made use of Luxembourg structures such as the reserved alternative investment fund (Raif) since its inception.