Credit: PwC
PwC Luxembourg has just released its 2021 Management Company Observatory Barometer; the results remain positive with significant growth in assets under management (AuM) to €4.158 trillion of Luxembourg Management Companies (ManCos), up 4% over one year.
This year’s survey came from a larger sample of 125 participants, thus providing a more representative picture of the Luxembourg ManCos industry, with 62% of the Luxembourg-based Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) AuM and 55% of the Regulated Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) AuM representative, a significant increase compared to previous surveys.
According to the 2021 barometer, Luxembourg continued to play a pivotal role in international fund distribution. As of December 2020, it hosted 314 UCITS and AIFM licensed ManCos, welcoming twelve new entrants. Luxembourg ManCos held AuM of €4.158 trillion, an increase of 4% over 2019.
While the number of ManCos and Super ManCos stayed relatively stable, this was mostly due to the number and size of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) in the sector, making 2020 a year of AuM growth and consolidation.
Bertrand Jaboulay, Audit Partner at PwC Luxembourg, commented: “What we observe is a story of continuous growth of the assets managed by Luxembourg Management companies. While there are new entities on the market, this is balanced with the M&A activities due to the consolidation of the segment mainly due to transactions but not only on the third party business. The Luxembourg ManCo market segmentation results show that the top ten ManCos managed almost 40% of the total AuM".
"Of interest is the increase in the number of employees in Luxembourg ManCos to 6,172, an addition of 224 people, which takes on even more significance in times of a pandemic", he continued. "Our survey has also confirmed that Management Companies identify as opportunities the continuous growth of demand on alternative products and ESG compliant products from their clients and investors of the funds".
In 2020, sustainability gained more traction and was increasingly recognised as a necessity rather than a trend. This evolution is expected to accelerate further in the future due to the regulatory developments in Europe and increased investor’ demand towards environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
Pierre-Marie Bochereau, Director of Asset & Wealth Management at PwC Luxembourg, commented: “Our purpose in presenting the Observatory for Management Companies Barometer is not just to provide an overview of figures and data, which is valuable in itself, but also to give perspective on the general trends over a given year. Two big trends for ManCos are digital transformation and the ESG revolution. Another insight is how the sector’s attractiveness has also been highlighted by recent Merger and Acquisitions in the past few months".
The top 5 ManCos by AuM as of 31 December 2020 were:
- JPMorgan Asset Management (Europe) S.à r.l.
- DWS Investment S.A.
- UBS Fund Management (Luxembourg) S.A.
- Amundi Luxembourg S.A.
- Blackrock (Luxembourg) S.A.
The top 5 Luxembourg authorised AIFMs by AuM as of 31 December 2020 were:
- Universal-Investment-Luxembourg S.A.
- EQT Fund Management S.à r.l.
- HAUCK & AUFHÄUSER FUND SERVICES S.A.
- M&G Luxembourg S.A.
- Carne Global Fund Managers (Luxembourg) S.A.
The top 5 third party ManCos by AuM as of 31 December 2020 were:
- Universal-Investment-Luxembourg S.A.
- FundRock Management Company S.A.
- HAUCK & AUFHÄUSER FUND SERVICES S.A.
- GAM (Luxembourg) S.A.
- Carne Global Fund Managers (Luxembourg) S.A.
The 2021 barometer is available on the PwC Luxembourg website.
