Over the past 10 years, “we’ve seen tremendous growth in alternatives across the board,” said Alfi CEO during a press conference on 25 September 2024. That includes private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate. The growth rate over the past five years stands at 20% per annum, he added. “We expect that [growth] to continue. Of course, as we grow bigger, the growth rates will probably slow down a bit. But I think we have some very encouraging signs.”
We’ve heard a lot about the broadening of access to alternatives, said Weyland, while the revised European long-term investment fund (Eltif) regime is also “promising.” The skill set in Luxembourg has also changed. “I think what we have observed over the past 10 years definitely is moving up the value chain in Luxembourg.” The country has shifted from an “admin hub” to a place where deal structuring, deal screening, risk management, investor relations and other activities take place. “I think we can say that certainly for Luxembourg, the future is bright.”
In the context of the investment and savings union, “Luxembourg is certainly one of the best positions to achieve the scaling up of funds,” he added. Weyland concluded his remarks by noting that Alfi hopes that a “more strategic approach of the [European] Commission, of Esma [European Securities and Markets Authority] and policymakers in general be taken to achieve a true savings and investment union--meaning directing more European savings to investments, to capital markets, because that’s what we need to finance the triple transition. It’s not about what other piece of regulation, or if we centralise supervision--that will not move a single euro to capital markets.”