Dear members and friends:

By way of preamble, I would like to thank my colleagues on the Board of Directors for my recent appointment as Vice-President, responsible for our Chamber in Luxembourg. It is an honour and a commitment that I assume, continuing the excellent work of José Luis Rodríguez.

At first glance, we may think that the international recognition and positive brand image of Luxembourg funds comes from their legal certainty and high investor protection, but this would only be the tip of the iceberg. Over the past few decades, the Luxembourg authorities have encouraged and supported the creation of an investment fund industry that has managed to add value not only in the funds’ own portfolio management, but also in the whole chain of operations and distribution.

Luxembourg has become an international hub where ManCos and funds benefit from a multicultural, multilingual, specialised and qualified centre of excellence in administration, depositary, legal, audit and consultancy services in which Spanish companies actively participate.

The added value of Luxembourg funds also comes from the great commitment of successive Luxembourg governments to transpose European rules as well as to design their own investment vehicles with great flexibility, such as the RAIF law of 2016 or the first transpositions of the AIFMD directive in 2013. This regulatory framework and the knowledge acquired means that fund managers can accommodate new and more complex investment strategies not only focused on specialised investors, but also on private banking and retail investors. The international marketing and sales efforts of ALFI (Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d’Investissement), which has been making presentations on literally all five continents for more than 20 years, should not be overlooked as a factor for its success.

All these factors mean that the Luxembourg investment fund has qualities and added value that allow it to differentiate itself from its competitors and to expand internationally more easily.

Spanish asset management companies have demonstrated in the domestic market that they have first-class managers for all asset classes. Combining the investment expertise of Spanish fund managers with the qualities offered by the Luxembourg fund industry results in a high value-added investment product that can be crucial for internationalisation not only in European markets, but also in other markets that are close culturally, such as Latin America. This combination of value can also be used to penetrate other markets that are less natural for Spanish companies, such as Asia or the Middle East.

In short, the Luxembourg investment fund industry has is an opportunity and should be perceived as such. Spanish companies can benefit from its strengths by using it as a tool to promote Spanish management from Spain.