By Kavitha Ramachandran – Brexit is a major political disruptor and, despite the uncertainties, it brings tremendous opportunities. London is a key financial centre and it is no surprise that while we wait for the final negotiations to fall in place, financial industry players have started taking action to create a presence on the Continent to stay competitive and continue to attract capital. As a result, the asset management industry is seeing a shift from the UK to the Continent which is creating opportunities for countries in the EU27.  Simultaneously, digitalisation is gaining pace due to changing investor profiles and demands, cost

Luxembourg’s Reserved AIF (RAIF) has completely changed the Grand Duchy’s alternatives marketplace, from a fund structuring perspective. Over the last three decades it has become the de facto onshore jurisdiction for UCITS funds, but this has started to change in the last few years.  According to EFAMA, total AUM in AIFs grew by 15.1 per cent year-on-year to reach EUR673 billion at the end of 2017, while UCITS’ assets increased by 11.9 per cent over the same period.  As PwC points out in its 2018 Barometer Report, assets held by both AIF and UCITS funds in Luxembourg reached EUR4.1 trillion

Fuchs Asset Management SA (‘Fuchs AM’) is the Management Company (‘ManCo’) within the family-owned Fuchs Group located in three jurisdictions: Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland. As an authorised AIFM, it provides the services and the knowledge (governance, risk management & compliance, portfolio management and distribution) for asset managers, private banks, family offices and entrepreneurs wishing to launch AIFMD & UCITS compliant vehicles as easily as possible. Over the last four years, Fuchs AM has been expanding its AIFM capabilities to support investment managers, including private equity managers, who have deep investment expertise but aren’t necessarily equipped to run their own regulated

In a recent article with Private Equity Wire seven months ago, Sean Murray, Managing Director, Alternative Assets (EMEA) at SANNE – a leading provider of alternative asset and corporate administration services with more than EUR235 billion in AuA – discussed a definitive trend among PERE fund managers to outsource their internal accounting and reporting processes.  This trend shows no sign of abating as global PE/RE groups look towards Europe, and specifically Luxembourg, to develop global distribution hubs.  Brexit is another unavoidable catalyst. Brexit has contributed to some of the growth we are seeing in Luxembourg as fund managers are looking for stability

Luxembourg’s funds industry enjoyed a good period of growth last year, a period during which assets under management grew, on average by 15 per cent, asset flows grew by 5 per cent, profits grew by 10 per cent, while margins were broadly maintained somewhere close to 37 per cent.  As of August 2018, total fund AUM in Luxembourg stood at EUR4.27 trillion, up 7.15 per cent year-on-year. Interestingly, US fund sponsors account for the largest market share, equivalent to 20 per cent of total AUM, followed by Great Britain (17.6 per cent), Germany (14. 4 per cent) and Switzerland