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AGEFI Luxembourg Décembre 2020
By Stephane PESCH, CEO of the LPEA
Venture Capital industries have shown a tremendous growth and have attracted lots of attention over the last years due to their inherent qualities (performance, long term approach, value creation, financing of the real economy and of innovation).
In such context some important public and private stakeholders, among which the association I have the pleasure of leading, the LPEA (Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association), are always looking for further improvements
and working on different strategies to be implemented/executed in the future in order to make the Luxembourg hub even more attractive to foreign General Partners (GPs), Limited Partners (LPs) and new practitioners. Next to the agile and smart
toolbox which is available in Luxembourg, the local teams of experts and the service providers’ community strongly contribute to the success of our industry thanks to their hands-on experience, substance, platforms and participate to the constant transformation of our “practice” including an evolution of the value chain (middle office, more in the future) and of the required profiles (new talents, existing professionals and more seasoned specialists).
This conclusion led to one of the latest initiatives in the market, the LPEA Training Academy. After some ad-hoc, separate trainings with renowned foreign experts, the trade association launched its very first Training Academy in July 2020 with initial modules comprising foundation courses on Private Equity (taught by the industry expert Cyril Demaria), Venture Capital (Expon Capital) and specialised courses on Impact investing (Tiime), Risk Management & valuations (BC Partners,
EY) and the dedicated Allen & Overy’s Legal academy.
It was with no surprise that many of the attendees were LPEA members (reflecting different profiles), several other professionals from Luxembourg and an interesting number joining from abroad – thanks to the entirely digital format resulting of the
C-19 pandemic. Despite some initial reluctance concerning the delivery via a digital platform, the results of the concluding survey boosted by enthusiastic feedbacks underlined the relevance of such digital training solutions (while keeping in mind
that the quality, experience of the expert, coach is a key differentiating factor). In order to respond to the growing appetite for specialised PE & VC training sessions and to continue this promising series, the LPEA will launch two new editions in 2021, one in March (Winter edition) and a Summer edition in June/July.
The Winter edition, running from the 1st of March to the 1st of April and delivered by a sound group of practitioners, will be a combination of the first edition’s modules including the foundation courses on Private Equity (Cyril Demaria),
Venture Capital (Expon Capital), the Allen & Overy Legal academy and also new modules this time on Tax (AtoZ), ESG (LuxFLAG) and Private debt (a combination of different strategic, legal, operational insights provided by a GP, Elvinger Hoss, EY and IQEQ).
Again the LPEA Training Academy will be held digitally and will allow the attendees and their firms to benefit this time from new certifications, at the level of the Academy, which should be highly appreciated (more information available
early 2021).
Finally, we truly believe that the “educational angle” and the provision of recognised, recurring, specialised trainings will facilitate the further development, evolution of our industries and add to the overall Luxembourg attractiveness. This is the only way to develop new professional profiles, to prepare the local and international community for upcoming challenges and to respond to the needs of the growing PE-VC hub.
