AGEFI Luxembourg - juin 2025

AGEFI Luxembourg 28 Juin 2025 Fonds d’investissement O n 5 June 2025, theAssociation of the Luxembourg Fund In- dustry (ALFI) published its Annual Report 2024 covering the period from1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. In this report, the Association gives an overviewof its keywork throughout the year, provides comprehensive industry statistics, anddigs into key, in- dustrymatters. Reflecting on how 2024 shaped the Luxembourg fund industry, with ALFI deeply involved throughout, Jean-Marc Goy (portrait),ALFI chairperson said: “2024 marked real progress for Luxembourgas a cross-border fundcentre. Fromex- pandingaccesstoprivateassets,totaxandregulatory adjustments that support active and passive ETFs, to contributing to Europe’s long-term savings agenda, Luxembourg is positioning itself for the future. In a fast-evolvingenvironment,ourroleistostayagileand focusedon solutions.” Commenting onALFI’swork in 2024, Britta Borneff (portrait),ALFIChiefMarketingOfficer,highlighted: “In 2024, ALFI strengthened community ties across the industry, launching new events, expanding net- works in key areas like tax and risk, andmaking in- vesting more accessible through initiatives like Schoulfoire, and free access to conferences for young professionals.With a growing presence at home and abroad,ALFIstayedfocusedononegoal:supporting its members in a fast-changing environment”. In the Snapshots of 2024 section of the Annual Report, ALFI presents some key focus areas of the year through a series of engaging podcasts: regulatory shifts and priorities, investor participation under the Savings and Investment Union (SIU), T+1 settlement andnext generationof finance. In 2024,ALFI continued topromote and support the interestsoftheLuxembourgassetmanagementcom- munityatnationalandEuropeanlevel.Intotal,1,700+ representatives of ALFI members contributed their expertise to the association’s committees. To make technical committees more effective, agile, focused, andalignedwithcurrent prior- ities, ALFI worked on new simplified and streamlined technical committees’ architec- ture throughout 2024. On this exercise, Serge Weyland, ALFI CEO, said: “This new structure isn’t just about simplifying. It’s about aligning our workwithourmember’spriorities. With a clearer focus and stronger member engage- ment, we’re committed tode- livering more value by driving deliverable-focused technical committees and al- lowing for quick turnaround times, publishing sharedknow- how on our newly releasedAlfi Collaboration Hub. Building a smarter, more con- nectedALFI for the future”. 2024wasanimportantyearforthefutureofEurope’s SIU, with an important push for creating the basis that drives European households’ investments into financial markets. A key theme for ALFI, it published ABlueprintforSavingsandInvestments ,out- lining concrete actions to advance the SIU and posi- tioning occupational pensions as the foundation for a long-lasting, inclusive framework. On this matter, Weyland commented: “It was demonstrated in sev- eralcountries,includinginEurope,thatoccupational pensionsarekeytocreatingdeepcapitalmarketsand these can constitute the foundation for building in- vestoreducationandtrustandfosteringfurtherdirect participation in capital markets. Well designed and transparent occupational pensions coupled with auto-enrolmentempowerretailinvestorstotakecon- trol of their financial future”. ETFsalsoemergedasanotherkeyfocusareaforALFI, more specificallyactiveETFs,with important regula- tory updates that aim to boost Luxembourg’s ETF market. In this regard, ALFI published its ETF flyer, highlighting how Luxembourg is unlocking oppor- tunitieswithactiveETFsandactiveETFshareclasses. According to Corinne Lamesch, ALFI Deputy CEO, “Luxembourgoffersauniquelyattractiveframework for ETFs inEurope, with a newtax and transparency regime that supports rapid growth in the active ETF space. Building on a strong track recordof launching activeETFshareclasseswithinexistingUCITSfunds, asset managers can now expand global distribution and scale proven strategiesmore efficiently”. In terms of events, ALFI held its first Global Asset Management Conference in March 2024, a new for- matmergingitsformerEuropeanAssetManagement Conference and Global Fund Distribution Confer- ence. It alsocarriedout itsfirstALFIAML/CFTCom- pliance Seminar that took place in November 2024. Also, 2024 saw the launch of the Roadshow to Paris and the newAssetManager Series events, ded- icated exclusively toAssetManagers and focused on building community andhelping turn conversations into business. DownloadtheAnnualreporton https://lc.cx/UvgMHM “2024 mark real progress for Luxembourg as cross-border fund centre” By Christophe HAUTIN, Portfolio Manager Allianz Global Investors T he political landscape across Europe, and theworld, is cur- rently undergoing perhaps the most profound changes since the end of theColdWar. TheCovidpandemic, war inUkraine, andnowabrupt changes to the global systemof trade and the reassessment of old alliances –most notably with theUS – have led to a newrealitywhere European states, both individually and collectively, will have to rea- lign their priorities and strike an increasingly independent tone on the global political and eco- nomic stages. Thesechanges–alreadyunderway,andsettoquicken over the coming years – can be viewed in terms of a growingEuropeansovereignty,drivenbytheneedto achieve greater independence and autonomy across a range of strategic sectors. Changes accelerating While historians will likely site the roots of the changing world order – and Europe’s place in it – some decades prior, it was the Covid-19 pandemic that marked a profound shift in reconsidering the dominate narrative of unabating global- ization. Corporates and governments were forced to quickly reconsider supply chains as these became disrupted or broken, and re-re- gionalizing or near-shoring became the or- ders of the day. Strategic autonomy’s rise to the top of the political and economic agendas was thenacceleratedbyRussia’s full-scale inva- sion of Ukraine. This not only provided an imme- diate trade shock – largely around energy supply – but also raised an unprecedented existential threat tomany coun- tries of the EuropeanUnion. The expansion of NATO and com- mitments to rearm and greatly boost defence budgets quickly fol- lowed. The start of Donald Trump’s second term has accelerated these trends in several ways.First,disengagementfromtheUkrainewar,and fromEurope more broadly, has further spurred Eu- ropeandefencespending,includingtheEU’s“Prepa- ration 2030” programme and a myriad of similar initiatives being taken at the national level. Second,while thefinal tariff landscape seems impos- sible to predict, Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” ledmanysectorsinEuropetoquicklyreconsidertheir strategic outlooks and futuregrowthdrivers. Indeed, for many in both the business and political spheres, thisperiodsawEuropeansovereigntybecometheim- perative policy issue of our time. Sectoral tailwinds The economic landscape in Europe has already changed significantly since the start of the year. Un- certainty, volatility, and an increasingly pessimistic outlook in the US have seen investors flocking into European equities with local markets significantly outperforming their counterparts across theAtlantic. Alongside this external driver, the stimulus of a new German government with a pledge to drive much- needed investment through greater borrowing – as wellascommitmentsacrosstheEUtoincreasespend- ing on defence and supporting strategic industries – arealsocontributingtomorebullishsentimentinEu- ropean markets, where equities still trade at a struc- tural discount compared to theirUSpeers. While these recent developments are, from a Euro- peanperspective, certainlywelcome, the course that the continent is set to takeover the comingyearswill have a more lasting and profound effect on the Eu- ropean equities landscape. While the most visible and newsworthy effect of growing European sovereignty is currently the wide-ranging commit- ments to rearmament thatwe are seeing frommany countries, the idea of sovereignty also extends to a rangeof strategic sectors, andcomes alongsideother significant megatrends such as digital transforma- tion and energy transition. Key beneficiaries will come in a range of areas – some less obvious than others. Alongside, and drivenby, defence, technological reindustrialization will see opportunities in aerospace, infrastructure, and cybersecurity, favouring those able to best leverage best able to leverage rapid developments in artificial intelligence and techmore broadly. The energy transition and the desire for energy auton- omy will drive investment in green tech, especially in the areas of sustainable mobility, energy effi- ciency, and developing the circular economy. However, we are also likely to see several other areas benefit. For instance, the biotechnology and human and animal health sectors will all see tail- winds from the restructuring of supply chains and themove towards European independence andau- tonomy. And all of these trends will drive innova- tion and growth across finance and insurance, to facilitate capital flow and the financial indepen- dence of European businesses. Market opportunities Froman investment perspective, the secular trendof Europeansovereigntypresentsmulti-sectoraloppor- tunitiesover themedium- to long-term.Keyhereare what we call technological catalysts – firms not lim- ited to the traditional tech or IT sectors, but that are involved in all aspects of digital transition, cyberse- curityanddefence, and thegreen transition. Indeed, in this respect it is key to identify those corporates thatwill become futureEuropeanchampions, offer- ing global leadership and excellence in areas key to other extant trends. European sovereigntywill thus certainly relyon the currentmarket leaders stepping up, but also on today’s small and midcaps that are settosupportthecontinent’stransitionovertheyears and decades to come. European sovereignty as opportunity I ndosuez Fund Solutions est issu du rapprochement entre les sociétés de gestion luxem- bourgeoises d’Indosuez WealthManagement et de Degroof Petercam. Ce rap- prochement s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’acquisition en juin 2024 de la banque belge Degroof Petercampar Indosuez, la filiale de ges- tion de fortune du groupe Crédit Agricole. En s’appuyant sur les expertises et les forces complémentaires de ces deux entités, Indosuez Fund Solutions se positionne comme le centre d’expertise et de ser- vices d’Indosuez Wealth Management dédié aux fonds d’investissement. Sa mission est de proposer à ses clients une prestation « one-stopshop » dans la création, la domiciliation, l’ad- ministration et la supervision des fonds d’Investissement. L’offre d’Indosuez Fund Solutions est intégrée et modu- laire en fonction du profil et des besoins des clients, grandes for- tunes, familyoffice et profession- nelsde l’investissement. Elle cou- vre toute la chaine de valeur de services, soit directement, soit en collaborationavec les entités spé- cialisées du groupe Crédit Agricole. Indosuez Fund Solutions pro- pose en particulier une large gamme de fonds collectifs ou dédiés et investis dans toutes classes d’actifs, des marchés publics auxmarchés non cotés. L’appartenance au groupe Crédit Agricole renforce sa capacité à proposer des solu- tions innovantes, solides et per- formantes aux clients. En capi- talisant sur l'expertise du Groupe, Indosuez Fund Solutions s’appuie sur un parte- nariat stratégique avec CACEIS, la filiale de Crédit Agricole spé- cialisée dans les services finan- ciers aux investisseurs institu- tionnels, au Luxembourg et en Belgique. CACEIS fournit les services associés de banque dépositaire et apporte son expertise et ses ressources enmatière d’adminis- tration de fonds à Indosuez FundSolutions. Avec une équipe deplus de 130 experts de l’indus- trie des fonds et 60 milliards d’euros d’actifs sous gestion (chif- fres à juin 2025), Indosuez Fund Solutions se positionne comme un acteur clé dans la gestion et l’administration de fonds d’in- vestissement. Elle est une filiale d’IndosuezWealthManagement Europe, l’une des principales banques privées de la place financière luxembourgeoise, qui bénéficie d’un ancrage solide et d’une expertise reconnue. Olivier Carcy, Administrateur délégué d’Indosuez Wealth Management Europe, a déclaré : « La création d’Indosuez Fund Solutions est une étape significa- tive dans notre stratégie de déve- loppement. En combinant les expertises d’Indosuez Wealth (Asset Management) et de Degroof PetercamAsset Services, nous renforçons notre capacité à offrir des solutions innovantes et performantesànosclients,touten tirant pleinement parti des atouts du groupe CréditAgricole. » SébastienAlusse , fort d’une expé- rience de 20 ans dans le Groupe, a été nommé Chief Executive Officer d’Indosuez Fund Solutions. Il a déclaré : « Nous sommes ravis de présenter IndosuezFundSolutions comme le nouveau centre d’expertise de services d’Indosuez Wealth Management dédiés aux fonds d’investissement.Notre ambition de croissance est très forte et nous sommes fiers de proposer une offre complète etmodulaire, par- faitement adaptée auxbesoins de nos clients, en leur offrant une prestation ‘one-stop-shop’ dans la gestion et l’administration des fonds d’investissement. » Création d'Indosuez Fund Solutions