Agefi Luxembourg Février 2019 Pages gratuites

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Février 2019
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AGEFI Luxembourg Fonds d’investissement
Luxembourg has once again ran-
ked among the top three EU
financial centres in 2018 ,
having consolidated and streng-
thened its role as the go-to hub
for financial institutions opera-
ting on a cross-border basis in
the Europeanmarket. Last year,
Luxembourg’s regulators granted
80 new licences for banks, mana-
gement companies, alternative
asset managers, insurers and
investment firms. This number
includes several financial institu-
tions to have publicly announced
their decision to relocate some activi-
ties because of Brexit.
To date, the Brexit reloca-
tion plans of 47 financial
institutions involving
Luxembourg have been
made public. Half of
these are asset man-
agers and the other half
areamixofbanks,insur-
ers and payment service
providers. Meanwhile, a
number of firms have chosen to
expand their existing Luxembourg
operationswithout these plans havingbeenmade
public.An important factor inLuxembourg’s abil-
ity to continue to attract new business is its long-
termstability, underpinned by its consistentAAA
credit rating.
Nicolas Mackel (picture), CEO of Luxembourg
for Finance, said: “Luxembourg’s proposition to
the global financial sector is stronger than ever.We
are known as a cross border focused centre and
this status has only been underscored by Brexit.
Our offer is also constantly evolving to meet the
future needs of finance, which means continuing
to curate a modern, ambitious and outward look-
ing financial centre, that provides clear develop-
ment plans andpractical support. Theprogresswe
have made over the last year in sustainable
finance, digitalisation, and in deepening relation-
shipswithglobal brands andmajor economies like
China is testament to that approach.”
EU hub status reinforced while
seeing impressive growth from
alternatives and non-life insurers
Luxembourg’s continued attractiveness as an EU
hub for international financial institutions was
highlightedby the arrival of Bankof
Singapore and Banco Santander
Brasil in 2018. Currently 136
banks from 28 countries rely on
Luxembourg as their European
or international centre for a
variety of competencies,
including corporate finance,
wealth management, custody
and other fund services.
The country’s status as a global
location for funds was equally
reinforced. As at 31 November
2018, Luxembourg’s fund industry
accounted for EUR 4.19 trillion in
assets under management
(AUM), a year-on-year increase
of 1.37%. With a market
share in Europe of
35.9% for
UCITS and
26.7% for
UCITS and
alternatives com-
bined, according
to figures by the
European Fund and
Asset Management
Association (EFAMA),
Luxembourg ranks as the
continent’s dominant fund centre.
Looking ahead, Luxembourg’s role as a global
fund centre is set to continue growing, buoyed in
part by the intention of 23 leading international
asset managers and private equity firms tomove
or reinforce existing activities to Luxembourg
after Brexit. These include Fidelity, M&G,
Aberdeen Standard Life, Columbia Threadneedle,
Blackstone, T. Rowe Price andWells Fargo.
2018 saw particularly strong growth for
Luxembourg’s alternatives sector, with AUM in
private equity funds increasing by 20%.
According to a recent industry report, a majority
of alternatives managers are reinforcing or plan-
ning to reinforce their presence in Luxembourg.
While Luxembourg has long been a key EU hub
for cross-border life insurance and reinsurance,
the non-life sector has also been significantly bol-
stered by the arrival of 11 global insurers, includ-
ing AIG, Liberty Mutual, Hiscox, Sompo and
Tokyo Marine all choosing to set up their post-
Brexit EU headquarters in Luxembourg. Most of
these insurers have already started operating
with their new licences, which contributed to
growth in premium income in Luxembourg’s
non-life sector of more than 23% over the first
nine months of 2018.
Deepening relationships with China
Luxembourg and China are long standing part-
ners in the financial sector and the Grand Duchy
today provides the EU hubs for seven of China’s
largest banks. In 2018, Luxembourg consolidated
its role as global market leader for funds investing
into China, with a global market share of 29.3%of
all funds investing in China, and 78.1% of all
European funds investing into China. The
Luxembourg StockExchange has alsobecome the
world leading listing place for Dim Sum bonds,
with a global market share of 23%. Bond listings
increased by 34% year-on-year.
Digitalising Luxembourg:
FinTech and RegTech on the rise
Over the last year, Luxembourg’s ambition to
become a digital leader in financial services took
further meaningful steps forward. The national
FinTech platform, the Luxembourg House of
Financial Technology, better known as LHoFT,
whichonly launched in2017, sawanear doubling
in company occupants, from 26 to 47 businesses,
and it grew totalmembership to 100. LHoFT aims
to host the most innovative companies so that it
can provide the country’s existing financial
ecosystem with the best resources and solutions
needed to operate in the digital era.
Together with its industry partners, LHoFT has
been working on several initiatives that will help
the financial sector streamline processes and
reduce costs, including a certification lab to pre-
test RegTech solutions, which will make financial
institutions’ procurement processes faster.
Luxembourg is increasingly recognised as a cen-
tre for RegTech, with three Luxembourg based
Fintech companies named among the prestigious
global RegTech 100 in 2018. Similarly, the coun-
try’s status as a destination of choice for payments
was underpinned by several major brands choos-
ing to establish operations in Luxembourg as a
result of Brexit, including Revolut andAlipay.
Building a world leading platform
for sustainable finance
2018 was a particularly busy year for
Luxembourg’s sustainable finance ecosystem.
Global issuance of sustainable debt products
surged by 26% to reach USD 247 billion last year,
the lion’s share being green bonds amounting to
USD 182 billion. The Luxembourg Stock
Exchange remained the world’s largest listing
venue for green bonds, with a volume of USD
121 billion displayed on its dedicated green
exchange, LGX.
In 2018, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange also
launched a dedicated window for green, social
and sustainable funds, and strengthened its role
as a bridge betweenChina and internationalmar-
kets by settingupaGreenBondChannelwith the
Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Channel displays information in English on
green bonds in China for the benefit of interna-
tional investors. In addition, last year
Luxembourg introduced the world’s first legal
framework for green covered bonds. The new
instrument is exclusively dedicated to financing
facilities that generate renewable energy.
Luxembourg is today home to 1 in 3 responsible
investment funds and 2 in 3 impact funds in
Europe. To continue supporting andgrowing this
community, the International Climate Finance
Accelerator was launched in the Grand Duchy,
which aims to foster a new generation of innova-
tive asset managers who are focused on climate
change mitigation and adaptation.
To ensure Luxembourg continues to develop its
role as an international centre of expertise for sus-
tainable finance, a national sustainable finance
roadmap was officially launched, in partnership
with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). The publicly available
roadmap is intended to help make sustainable
finance a mainstream proposition across
Luxembourg’s entire financial sector.
A stable outlook for
Luxembourg’s financial sector
The Grand Duchy’s outlook is further enhanced
by the newly elected Government’s coalition
agreement, which confirmed its clear commit-
ment to continue developing the country’s finan-
cial centre, with emphasis on sustainable finance
and the digitalisation of financial services.
Source: LuxembourgforFinance
Luxembourg licenses 80 new financial services companies in 2018
Au 31 décembre 2018, le patrimoine
global net des organismes de place-
ment collectif, comprenant les OPC
soumis à la Loi de 2010, les fonds d’inves-
tissement spécialisés et les SICAR, s’est
élevé à EUR 4.064,644milliards contre EUR
4.192,332milliards au 30 novembre 2018,
soit une diminution de 3,05%sur unmois.
Considéré sur la période des douze der-
niersmois écoulés, le volume des actifs
nets est en diminution de 2,28%.
L’industrie des OPC luxembourgeois a donc enre-
gistré aumois de décembre une variationnégative
se chiffrant à EUR 127,688milliards. Cette diminu-
tion représente le solde des émissions nettes néga-
tivesàconcurrenced’EUR12,860milliards(-0,31%)
etdel’évolutiondéfavorabledesmarchésfinanciers
à concurrence d’EUR114,828milliards (-2,74%).
Le nombre des organismes de placement collectif
(OPC)prisenconsidérationestde3.908parrapport
à 3.936 le mois précédent. 2.536 entités ont adopté
une structure à compartiments multiples ce qui
représente 13.526 compartiments. En y ajoutant les
1.372 entités à structure classique, au total 14.898
unités sont actives sur la place financière.
Concernant d’unepart l’impact desmarchés finan-
ciers sur les principales catégories des organismes
de placement collectif et d’autre part l’investisse-
ment net en capital dans ces mêmes OPC, les faits
suivants sont à relever pour lemois de décembre :
Les catégories d’OPC à actions ont toutes connu
un développement négatif pour le mois sous
revue, sous l’effet notamment de craintes portant
sur un ralentissement de la conjoncturemondiale.
Au niveau des pays développés, la catégorie
d’OPC à actions européennes a réalisé dans ce
contexteuneperformance fortement négative, sur
fonds de chiffres de croissance décevants en
Europe et d’incertitudes politiques persistantes.
Les signes de décélération de l’économie améri-
caine et laquatrième remontéedes tauxdirecteurs
de laRéserve fédéraleaméricainepour cetteannée
expliquent le recul de la catégoried’OPCà actions
américaines. Sur base d’indicateurs économiques
moins bons au Japon et de la conjoncture globale
peu favorable, la catégorie d’OPC à actions japo-
naises a également fini en territoire négatif.
Au niveau des pays émergents, les catégories
d’OPCà actions de l’Europede l’Est, d’Amérique
latine et d’Asie ont suivi la tendance globale à la
baisse dans un contexte d’un environnement
conjoncturel global moins favorable, malgré un
accord commercial temporaire entre la Chine et
les États-Unis et les mesures de stabilisation de la
croissance prises par les autorités chinoises. Au
cours dumois dedécembre, les catégories d’OPC
à actions ont globalement affiché un investisse-
ment net en capital négatif.
En Europe, les volatilités sur les marchés d’ac-
tions, les inquiétudes sur la conjoncture globale et
les incertitudes politiques ont entraîné à lahausse
les prix des d’obligations d’État à haute notation
qui furent recherchéespar les investisseurs en tant
que valeur refuge alors les primes de risque ont
globalement augmenté dans le segment des obli-
gations privées. En somme, la catégorie d’OPC à
obligations libellées en EUR a réalisé de légers
gains de cours.
Aux États-Unis, les obligations d’État libellées en
USDfurent recherchées par les investisseurs sous
l’impulsion de la forte correction des marchés
d’actions américaines dans un contexte d’indica-
teurs économiques moins favorables et du relè-
vement des taux directeurs par la Banque centra-
le américaine, de sorte que la catégorie d’OPC à
obligations libellées en USD a terminé le mois en
territoire positif.
La catégorie d’OPC à obligations des pays émer-
gents a en somme peu changé sous l’effet d’une
part de fondamentaux solides et du recul des ren-
dements obligataires américains et d’autre part de
l’évolution négative de certaines devises émer-
gentes et de la faiblesse des marchés des matières
premières.Aucoursdumoisdedécembre,lescaté-
goriesd’OPCà revenu fixeont globalement affiché
un investissement net en capital positif.
Source : Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF)
Situation globale des OPC
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