Solutions
As hedge fund managers continue to navigate the Covid-19 environment there are several potential issues that could arise as they manage the impact of the pandemic on their business and re-calibrate strategies to take advantage of market opportunities.
Kevin Huys, Director at of HTC Fiduciary Services Limited, “Harbour”, comments on this development: “We’re seeing the potential for managers to re-evaluate their asset allocation and the focus of their strategies as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on markets. Some managers are seeing opportunities in different areas of their strategies, whether that be geographic, sector specific or otherwise,
Cappitech, a provider of regulatory reporting, best execution analysis and business intelligence solutions for the financial services industry, has published its third annual global regulatory reporting survey in which it finds that the majority of firms (65 per cent) have had to change their reporting in the last 12 months, mostly due to inefficiencies and errors.
As Luxembourg attracts growing numbers of fund managers and service providers, the progress is raising concerns among those with existing operations in the region. Attracting and retaining top talent is becoming more of a struggle as the number of players increases and the industry needs around compliance continue to mount.
By Stéphane Badey, Arendt – These are uncertain times, but three solid trends driving the Luxembourg investment funds market can be highlighted.
1. The continuous growth of the alternative investment strategies. Luxembourg has positioned itself as a jurisdiction of choice for alternative asset managers. As a consulting firm we are accompanying clients in their move to Luxembourg. This is made easier from a regulatory perspective by the adoption of a clear regulatory framework.
2. The further integration of ESG criteria into asset managers’ strategies. The upcoming regulations (SFDR*) are prompting asset managers to position themselves accordingly. Although many had already embraced
It is essential for firms with offices in Luxembourg to build strong digitally enabled operations if they are to remain competitive as the Grand Duchy experiences an influx of players in the wake of a potential no-deal Brexit.
“We have seen increased demand for our managed data services and application management solutions,” notes George Ralph, managing partner, RFA. “Our managed data services allow firms in Luxembourg to centralise disparate data from multiple sources into a cloud-based data warehouse, where analytics tools can be applied and insights and predictions can be made. Our simple dashboards, based on Microsoft PowerBI mean our
The private equity industry is currently navigating a number of challenges in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, which the whole world is facing. As regulation and political will around environment, social and governance (ESG) factors grows, PE firms are coming under increased pressure to incorporate this approach into their investment strategies. These firms are also keeping a close eye on the progress of the Brexit negotiations to make sure to maintain their access to Europe.
Q&A with Marcus Peter & Irina Stoliarova, GSK Stockman
What are the key trends currently driving growth and development within Luxembourg’s funds industry?
In 2019 Luxembourg fund industry revealed significant growth that was not slowed down in the first three quarters of 2020. As at 31 August 2020, the total assets under management (AUM) amounted to EUR4,696.762 billion compared to EUR4,617.395 billion as at 31 July 2020, showing an increase of 1.72 per cent over one month and over the last twelve months, the volume of net assets rose by 4.31 per cent.
Regardless of the fact that asset managers,
Luxembourg remains a key hub of fund distribution. However, the complexity of the European regulation has seen a rise in managers setting up more parallel funds in other jurisdictions. This is done to accommodate non-EU investors, who may struggle with the demands of the EU fund regulations.
“Something we’re seeing quite a lot of is managers setting up a fund in Cayman or Delaware for US investors, a Singapore or Hong Kong fund to cater for Asian investors and then a Luxembourg fund for the EU market,” observes Anja Grenner, Market Business Development Lead – Fund Services at TMF Group.
There are several macroeconomic factors which support further growth in the private equity, venture capital and real estate space in Luxembourg. Although events like Covid-19, the Brexit transition, US elections and the US-China trade war may damage this potential, managers can also find opportunity in the turmoil.
“There are huge amounts of capital in the markets. Unlike during the GFC, there is no shortage of debt, we’re not in a liquidity crisis. And we are still in a low interest environment – which isn’t going to change any time soon, so we’re going to see more money continue to move
Envestnet Yodlee, a data aggregation and analytics platform specialising in consumer spending data analytics, says asset managers are increasingly seeking out such alternative data insights in their hunt for alpha.
