Gestionnaires de patrimoine

Jurgen Vluijmans dissèque le modèle d’entreprise du gestionnaire d’actifs belgo-néerlandais Wealtheon, une entreprise familiale pure et simple.

A Memorandum of Understanding on financial services agreed between the EU and the UK, published on 19 May, could elevate the tone of the discussions and lead to a more productive relationship. “It’s a very encouraging confirmation that the relations between the EU and the UK are warming up,” said Nicolas Mackel, the CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the public-private Luxembourg agency for the development of the financial sector.

« En tant que gérants, nous investissons également notre patrimoine familial conformément à la politique que nous recommandons. Ainsi, nos intérêts sont entièrement alignés sur ceux de nos clients », explique Victor Zwart, fondateur et CEO de Wealtheon. 

Fund management companies registered some 22 new reserved alternative investment funds (Raifs) in April 2023, according to publicly-released data updated on 15 May.

This development brings the total for this year so far to 128. Considering only the first four months of the year, the total number was down 20 per cent from last year during the same period.

Luxembourg now has some 2,288 registered Raifs. In 2022, The Luxembourg Business Registers recorded 482 new Raifs, at an average of over 40 new Raif registrations every month.

While those European investors still in doubt about the importance of ESG are becoming increasingly bogged down in a rearguard action, U.S. states are increasingly passing anti-ESG laws. “If this becomes federal policy, I would underweight the U.S. in the portfolio,” said Gaya Herrington,  a sustainability researcher and advisor to the Club of Rome.

Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) S.C.A. said on Thursday it has been selected by Schroders Capital as central administrator and depositary bank for the launch of its first European Long-Term Investment Fund, or Eltif.

Belgium’s largest independent private bank, Degroof Petercam, is considering a major reshuffle of its ownership structure that could potentially lead to a new majority shareholder. Some of the existing owners, mainly Belgian noble families but also undefined «financial partners», have indicated they want to sell their shares.

A deal could be worth more than one billion euro. Belgian state-controlled financial group Belfius, Credit Agricole, ING Groep and Royal Bank of Canada are reported as being possible bidders.  

The launch of the amended Eltif regulation – version 2.0 – fits a narrative in some quarters that the version of Eltif already on the books is some kind of failure. Data nevertheless shows that investment in even the “limited” version of Eltif in place since 2015 is still growing quickly and various projections specify even faster growth. In order for the vehicle to be sold to masses of clients under Eltif 2.0, experts said that consequential adaptations will have to be made to the way such funds are sold and distributed.

Luxembourg’s finance minister has tabled a proposal to the grand duchy’s parliament to encourage the uptake of European long-term investment funds known as Eltifs. If adopted, the proposal will exempt Eltifs from requiring to pay the quarterly registration tax levied on Luxembourg investment funds.

Lawyers in Luxembourg expect that at least 20 new European long-term investment funds, known as Eltifs, will be registered in the grand duchy this year, even before the more liberal regulatory regime for these funds enters into force in 2024, researchers at Scope Fund Analysis said. 

Eltifs grew more than 50 percent last year into a 11.3 billion euro market, also buoyed by 4 billion euro in inflows. More than half of the 77 Eltifs available were registered in Luxembourg, according to the latest Eltif study by Scope Fund Analysis.