He co-founded La Française International, one of Luxembourg's first management companies. She set up her second recruitment firm specialising in finance just over 10 years ago.

Together, Jérôme Carbonnelle and Gwladys Costant have dual expertise in business and headhunting. In just a few years, GOTOfreedom has become the recruitment consultancy partner of financial companies with ambitions for their Luxembourg entity.

How important is an event like MIPIM for a recruitment agency like GOTOfreedom?

Projections for real estate investment in 2025 could amount to more than 950 billion dollars*. This is a significant component of the investment management value chain, our 'sweet spot'," explains Jérôme Carbonnelle, Partner at GOTOfreedom. We cover the recruitment needs of this industry in the broadest sense: our clients, their partners, their suppliers, etc. Our role is to advise them throughout their development stage, from preparing for their arrival on the Luxembourg market through to their consolidation or even transformation phase. Our core business is in Luxembourg, but we naturally place candidates in Paris and Amsterdam. And so, for us, MIPIM is an important event, because it brings together Luxembourg and foreign players in the industry for which we recruit.

What recruitment advice would you give to a financial company setting up in Luxembourg?

This year alone, we've helped a number of Manco companies to prepare for their move to Luxembourg. From experience, we know that at this stage of the company's maturity, the priority is to build a team made up of people who know Luxembourg's strengths well. People with the same values, a self-starter spirit, a sense of teamwork, a flair for communication and the rigour needed to set up new processes," explains Gwladys Costant, the firm's founder.

We recruited the conducting officers that these companies needed to set up the business: preparing the authorisation application, setting up a framework, creating the link with the parent company while (re)taking responsibility for the assets, anticipating the creation of new funds, etc. They were then joined by operational profiles, oversight professionals, etc., whom we introduced to them.

What kind of talent does a company in its development phase need?

During the development phase, a company needs professionals capable of taking it to the next level. That's where our role as business partner comes into its own. Recently, we were mandated by a major Anglo-Saxon private equity firm. The more we exchanged ideas with them, the more we realised that they could give themselves the chance to develop it within the Group. At our instigation, the initial role of Conducting Officer was changed to Managing Director of the Luxembourg entity, giving this structure greater visibility. This general management role enables the Luxembourg entity to become a real source of ideas.

Do established companies need to change their recruitment strategy?

Absolutely. Mature companies are often faced with the challenges of growth, new entrants pushing them around and changing regulations. "They need a new lease of life", explains Jérôme Carbonnelle. Our role is to advise our customers to find the right match between the means of achieving their objectives and the types of people who are really capable or available to achieve them. This type of situation reminds me of an investor services company that was planning external growth before it had an established commercial framework. It seemed obvious to us to strengthen the sales team to improve organic growth on the one hand, and to anticipate the integration of future teams on the other. This reflects our way of working.

It's not often that recruiters intervene in this way, in anticipation?

That's true. "Often, recruiters get involved at the end of the line and work from a job description that doesn't always correspond to the reality of the market," laments Gwladys Costant. Acquiring talent requires real commercial skills in the same way as acquiring customers. The earlier we are involved in the process, the better we will be able to refine the recruitment strategy and promote both our client and the position to candidates.

Working as far upstream as possible is the role we favour at GOTOfreedom. In fact, our clients include asset management companies and consultancy firms who consult us regularly about the state of the market in Luxembourg and other markets. Our role is to match their business and organisational vision and challenges with the realities of the 'human resources market'.

What makes you unique in this 'Investment Management Value Chain'?

Gwladys and I want our consultants to understand the business of the investment sector," explains Jérôme Carbonnelle. They are able to make cross-functional links between law firms, management companies, investor services, banks... and that's their strength, especially when they have to discuss future projects with business unit managers. It's no coincidence that you come across them at technical events related to our customers' businesses, or at events organised by LFF or the ABBL. They embody what we know to be our strength and our uniqueness: combining financial and recruitment expertise to develop our clients' businesses.

A final word on your CSR commitments?

GOTOfreedom is the first Executive Search & Recruitment firm in Luxembourg to be certified B Corp. We see this as an obvious way of running a business. This management is based on the following pillars: governance, our employees, our local footprint, our environmental impact and, of course, our customers. It is a clear strategic positioning that is perfectly aligned with current practices and regulations in the financial industry we serve.

* Savills Research using MSCI RCA, Macrobond, and Oxford Economics