The Grand Duchy hosts over 125 international banks and is Europe’s largest investment fund centre, with over €5tn (£4.4tn) in assets under management. Luxembourg’s financial sector contributes almost a third (roughly 30%) of the country’s GDP and employs over 50,000 professionals – roughly 7% of its total population – and it has a thriving international financial advice sector.
For wealthy individuals with assets, family members, and interests spread across different countries, Luxembourg presents an attractive offering. Advisers who understand how to manage wealth across borders can operate from Luxembourg with both clear regulatory rules and practical flexibility.
The country’s sophisticated adviser network, combined with the country’s political stability, strong data protection laws, and favorable treatment of insurance-based wealth products, has made it particularly attractive for internationally mobile families looking to consolidate and protect their wealth across generations.
We spoke to Utmost Wealth about how Luxembourg’s enduring relevance and how the firm helps its advisers navigate cross-border advice with confidence.
Introduction
As private clients’ lives become increasingly international, advisers face the challenge of designing structures that can evolve with their clients across borders, currencies, and generations.
In this conversation, Madelene Gorbutt Hägg, group head of sales, Sweden, and Amaury de Potter d’Indoye, director of sales, Belgium and Luxembourg, from Utmost Luxembourg, reflect on the enduring relevance of Luxembourg as a booking centre for international life assurance and how Utmost’s approach empowers advisers to navigate this complexity with confidence.
How does Utmost’s Luxembourg offering help solve real-world client challenges?
Madelene: What makes Luxembourg so valuable as a booking centre is its predictability. For Swedish clients with international exposure, whether through residence, investment holdings, or family connections, continuity is key.
Luxembourg’s legal framework provides that continuity. Its unique policyholder protection regime, also known as the ‘Triangle of Security,’ and the regulator’s oversight provide protection of the underlying assets, while the open-architecture model allows clients to hold one or several diversified, global portfolios with different banks and asset managers within one compliant structure.
From a client’s perspective, that means control and transparency without sacrificing flexibility. From an adviser’s perspective, it means a structure that can adapt to life events like relocation, inheritance, or business transitions in a tax-efficient way without being rebuilt from scratch.
Amaury: I completely agree, and I’d add that this adaptability is crucial in the BELUX region as well. Many of our clients are entrepreneurs or professionals with cross-border ties. They value long-term yet flexible solutions that can be managed efficiently while remaining compliant in multiple jurisdictions.
The insurance-based framework allows exactly that: a single contract that can evolve as the client’s footprint changes. The ability to change investments, move residence, or plan succession within a regulated, tax-transparent structure is a real-world solution to modern wealth complexity.
What distinguishes Utmost’s approach to client and adviser support in a multi-jurisdictional context?
Amaury: At Utmost, we support advisers by bringing together legal, technical, and operational expertise across our insurance companies in Luxembourg, Ireland, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. That’s a major differentiator.
When an adviser comes to us with a complex client scenario, they don’t get a standard product brochure; they get a conversation. We analyze how the client’s profile and objectives interact with local tax, regulatory, and estate frameworks and then design a solution that is compliant, robust, internationally recognized, and portable. That’s what multi-jurisdictional support really means.
Madelene: Yes, and that collaboration is what advisers and clients value most. For instance, if a Swedish adviser is managing a client moving to Spain or Portugal, our cross-border life assurance structure can remain the core of their wealth plan.
Behind that, they have access to our in-house experts in each jurisdiction, who can validate the technical nuances and ensure the solution remains fully aligned with local requirements, looking ahead to tomorrow’s standards.
It’s not just support; it’s continuity of partnership across borders. Advisers know that Utmost understands both the technical and the human dimensions of cross-border wealth.
Amaury: And that consistency of service is key. Whether the adviser is in Brussels, Stockholm, or Luxembourg, they get the same clarity, technical support, and administrative precision. That’s what distinguishes us! One Group, multiple jurisdictions, one standard of excellence.
What message would you give to advisers and clients considering Luxembourg for the first time?
Madelene: My message would be to look at Luxembourg as a centre of governance and excellence. Its reputation for investor protection, regulatory rigor, financial strength (AAA rating for Luxembourg, holding the highest possible sovereign credit rating), and cross-border compatibility makes it a natural choice for advisers who want to future-proof their client relationships. In addition, each of Utmost’s insurance companies are individually rated as A+ (Strong) by Fitch Ratings. This is a further sign of our strength and stability.
Luxembourg-issued life assurance structures are not about complexity; they’re about clarity. They give advisers a stable platform to manage evolving client circumstances without constant restructuring.
Amaury: I’d echo that. Luxembourg is a neutral, well-regulated booking centre that has built its reputation on transparency, stability, and investor confidence. For advisers who are serious about building long-term, cross-border relationships, it’s one of the few jurisdictions that combines flexibility with discipline.
And with Utmost, advisers are not navigating this landscape alone; they have a partner with on-the-ground experience in multiple regulatory environments. Our goal is to make Luxembourg’s framework accessible, practical, and fully integrated into the adviser’s business model.
