A survey by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) revealed that the country’s AUM in the first quarter of this year were €94bn higher than at the end of 2013, driven by €68bn in net sales.
In 2013, Luxembourg attracted inflows of €193bn, representing a 47% share of total European net sales, and 129 new fund promoters selected Luxembourg as their new fund domicile, of which 31% were outside of the EU.
ALFI chairman Marc Saluzzi said, despite the positive results, the overall fund industry environment remained challenging.
“The threat of a Financial Transaction Tax, the EU hesitations on money market funds and the extension of MiFID II still create a level of uncertainty for our industry and its investors,” he said. “In addition, an increasing number of jurisdictions are striving to emulate the Luxembourg model and compete with our products in the cross-border space.”
'Cornerstone'
The report also outlines ALFI’s “Footprint project”, an initiative to improve Luxembourg’s service footprint and remain Europe’s leading investment fund centre which looks at how fund managers intend to develop their business in Luxembourg and beyond.
Saluzzi said the initial outcome of the initiative was positive, with all interviewees confirming that Luxembourg will remain the cornerstone of their global fund business.
“One major growth opportunity that we are increasingly looking into is to serve the non-Luxembourg business of fund managers by leveraging the Luxembourg infrastructure,” he added.
