Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
On Wednesday 18 June 2025, DLA Piper Luxembourg hosted a public conference at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg as part of the inaugural edition of “Funds World”.
Two-day forum brought together nearly 500 senior professionals from the legal, financial and regulatory sectors in Luxembourg and beyond.
According to the organisers, Funds World is designed to provide a comprehensive view of the latest industry trends, insights, opportunities and challenges. Expert panels explored shifts within the fund industry and addressed fund innovation as well as the role of the global economy in shaping the financial future.
During the public press conference, panel discussions addressed how investment funds can act as catalysts in tackling global challenges, including digitalisation, decarbonisation, geopolitical shifts and economic transformation. Expert speakers examined how fund models are evolving in response to innovation and changing global priorities.
One of the panel discussions, titled “No Future Without Funds: The Funds for the Future” and moderated by Mara Topping, Partner, Investment Management & Funds at DLA Piper, explored the evolving role of investment funds in addressing major global challenges. Speakers discussed how funds can help finance the real economy, support socio-ecological transitions and respond to demographic and regulatory shifts. Topics included ageing populations and pension funding gaps, sustainable impact financing, regulatory fragmentation and their effects on asset classes.
During the panel, Steven Baxter, Head of Longevity Innovation & Chief Data Scientist at Club Vita, highlighted how demographic shifts are reshaping retirement planning and long-term investment strategies. “Fifty years ago, the world population was 4 billion - now it's over 8 billion,” he said, noting that ageing populations in developed economies are reversing traditional age pyramids. He warned that “we’re fundamentally bad at two things: saving money and knowing how long we’ll live,” citing a global $41 trillion pension savings gap and rising inequality in life expectancy.
Tobias Griesshaber, Head of Performance Measurement & Investment Controlling at EIP, underlined the critical role of long-term infrastructure investment in maintaining energy resilience and sustainability. “The best thing we can do for our societies is invest domestically - infrastructure keeps the lights on and the planet cool,” he said. He also warned that short-term thinking and regulatory inefficiencies risk undermining necessary capital flows: “If we fail to close investment gaps, we may face price shocks, insufficient power supply or stagnation.” Griesshaber emphasised the importance of acquisition finance and subscription-backed lending to mobilise capital for regulated, socially essential assets.
Diana Meyel, Managing Partner and COO at Cipio Partners, stressed the importance of digitalisation in addressing labour shortages, particularly in the public sector. “Digitisation is the only way to fill these gaps,” she noted, highlighting its broader societal impact beyond traditional definitions of impact investing. Meyel also emphasised the need to prioritise strategic areas such as digital sovereignty and defence, which are often undervalued despite their long-term relevance.
She criticised existing regulatory thresholds, specifically the €500 million assets under management cap, as outdated and limiting the growth of mid-sized funds. “Many fund managers consciously choose to stay under the threshold due to the high cost of regulation, which restricts capital for scale-ups,” she said. On a more positive note, she welcomed ongoing efforts to review and raise this threshold to better reflect current market conditions.
Another participant in the panel discussion was Richard Weiss, President of GTI Asset Management, offered a critical view on the evolution of securitisation. Tracing its roots in the United States as a means to refinance distressed assets off balance sheets, he noted that post-2008 regulatory changes have significantly curtailed innovation in the field. “Mention the word [securitisation] to an investor and they won’t even look at it,” he said. Weiss argued that regulatory requirements equating loan-making fund managers with banks have hindered the original intent of investment funds and reduced flexibility in private credit markets.
The programme concluded with a networking lunch and a series of additional private roundtables held under Chatham House Rules.
