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Dear Reader,
Another successful year went by for the LPEA as our membership count increased by 25% over 2018. This development mirrors the global rise of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) as an asset class. In this context, LPEA is a reliable barometer of what is going on in the PE industry at large, in Luxembourg and abroad:
Growth is the name of the game across the industry: AuM in all regions rise – independently from macro economic context – and performance continues to be strong vs public markets.
The structure of the PE ecosystem is shifting towards more diversity in terms of strategies developed.
The types of investors involved in PE are diversifying too, as it draws Family Offices and Private Wealth advisors to the asset class.
Brexit has been a bigger disruptor than expected due to heightened and prolonged uncertainty, which plays to the strength of Luxembourg = stability.
Digitalisation is now a top priority across the value chain, with many RegTech / FinTech innovations that bring innovation to smoothen KYC / AML / reporting. Even if regulatory pressure continues to increase, our committees guarantee that the information flows through our community and permanently look for new solutions.
Overall, Luxembourg has established itself as a prime hub facilitating cross-border PE-VC investments. It draws on its strength as multilingual and specialised centre for servicing fund managers. In times of political instability in Europe, Luxembourg stands out with its first-class reputation and its triple A rating for investors attracting ever greater inflows of PE funds.
Specifically, this is how this translates at the LPEA level as we count more than 210 members. The Association welcomed new types of investors as members, not only PE / VC strategies but also Debt and Infrastructure managers (on the GP side), as well Single Family Offices, Private Banks and Asset Managers who expand their PE allocation (on the LP side).
After almost 10 years of existence the Association has grown into a fully-fledged institution and pillar of the Luxembourg financial centre. It has strong ties with public authorities, hosts a yearly flagship event in Luxembourg that draws interest from international investors – LPEA INSIGHTS, continues to offer high-level domestic and international seminars and publishes technical and thought-leadership materials for the benefit of its members and interested parties.
Many London-based GPs are expanding their teams in Luxembourg, on the back of the rise of third-party AIFMs who offer safekeeping and professional investment management services, which means Brexit is forcing investors to expand their footing beyond London.
As the financial world is changing, Luxembourg is increasingly maturing into a centre for middle and front office PE-VC houses. In 2018 the Association engaged in a Strategic Review of its activities with the objective of boosting its efficiency and accountability towards its PE/VC community. This is part of our strong will to firmly anchor LPEA as a Thought Leader in the Private Capital industry (PE, VC, Debt and Infrastructure).
Our priority at LPEA continues to be the promotion and protection of the interests of our members while promoting Luxembourg abroad, which means focusing on tailor -made offering to the different constituencies involved in LPEA, all underpinned by our motto: “Matching talent with money”… and getting more closely involved in the start-up / Tech community, which is a hotbed of innovation and job creation for the local economy, while contributing greatly to position Luxembourg as a true PE / VC hub for talented entrepreneurs and ambitious investors who can exchange and network through our facilitation platform.
Rajaa Mekouar-Schneider, Chairwoman
Paul Junck, Managing Director
