On Wednesday 30 March 2016, a delegation from the LCGB-ESFS met with chairman of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), Denise Voss, and Director General of ALFI, Camille Thommes, for an exchange of views on the future of the investment funds sector in the Grand Duchy.
During the meeting, the ALFI representatives claimed that despite the significant growth of assets under management that has been experienced in recent years in Luxembourg, challenges lie ahead in strengthening existing activities and attracting new players to the country. Ms. Voss and Mr. Thommes also highlighted recent regulatory developments, as well as those to come, such as UCITS 5 and BEPS; the deadlines for the implementation of certain national directives; the importance of having an attractive tax framework to deal with competition from other European countries and with the emergence of increased competition in certain Asian and South American countries which effectively mimic the UCITS model or which willingly applies the Luxembourg model.
Developments are expected to concern the evolution of passive management funds, where efforts are needed to improve Luxembourg's particular position, the growth of hedge funds and the expansion of so-called 'socially responsible' funds, ie. microfinance. The meeting also determined that the future of the sector will depend on anticipating change; on the availability of human resources at the risk management level, on compliance and expertise; and therefore on the development and adaptation of skills.
LCGB-ESFS for its part expressed concerns about employment, on one part following increasing digitalisation and the tendency to optimise communication flows and the management of regulatory requirements through Fintech. LCGB-ESFS also deplored what it deemed the short-term vision of the policies of certain financial groups in terms of cost reduction and relocation through outsourcing or smartsourcing certain activites which impacts certain types of jobs.
ALFI and LCGB-ESFS reportedly found common ground regarding the notion that all social partners, the government and each employee must collectively take responsibility to implement everything possible to anticipate these movements, to adapt accordingly to changes and invest the necessary means to ensure the sustainability of the investment fund industry and the thousands of jobs related to it.
Accordingly, a policy of continued and reorientation training which is adapted to emerging occupations in the funds sector, and which is supported by the government, was emphasised. This would enable current employees to acquire new skills to adapt to continuous changes, to develop employability and also to contribute to job security in the sector.
(L-R: Gabriel Di Letizia, Chairman of SESF and Paribas Permanent Delegate; Philippe Lejeune, Permanent Delegate BNP Paribas Securities Services; Dominique Mendes, CACEIS Permanent Delegate; Denise Voss, ALFI chairman; Patrick Michelet, LCGB; Isabelle David, Permanent Delegate RBC ITS; Camille Thommes, General Director ALFI; and Vincent JACQUET (Deputy Secretary General LCGB)
