Two out of every three Ucits funds that are distributed internationally are Luxembourg based, claims the Association of the Luxembourg Investment Fund Industry (Alfi) in a press release issued on 29 March 2018 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Luxembourg’s implementation of the European Ucits directive into national law.

Since then, it continues:

“Luxembourg has become the global leader for cross-border distribution of investment funds, and today 65% of Ucits funds distributed internationally are based in Luxembourg.”

Luxembourg Ucits are held by investors resident in over 70 countries worldwide, including markets in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America and Luxembourg now has over €3,500 billion assets under management in Ucits investment funds.

According to Alfi:

“Fund initiators choose to set up Ucits in Luxembourg to benefit from the country’s unequalled know-how and expertise, regulatory framework, and political and economic stability. A comprehensive ecosystem of fund administrators, compliance and risk management specialists, lawyers and service providers, more recently joined by a number of ‘fintechs’ dedicated to investment funds, has developed over the past 3 decades, transforming Luxembourg into a true centre of excellence.”

Over the years, the Ucits regulation has undergone a series of improvements and updates and Luxembourg has always been among the first to implement each Ucits directive into national law.

Denise Voss, chairman of Alfi said:

“Since the very beginning, Alfi has been one of the most fervent promoters of Ucits funds… We wish “long life and prosperity” to the global brand that is Ucits which, with the increasing need for investors to take responsibility for their own long-term financial security, will have an increasingly important role to play going forward.”

What are Ucits?

The Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities (Ucits) is a regulatory framework of the European Commission that creates a harmonized regime throughout Europe for the management and sale of mutual funds. Ucits funds can be registered in Europe and sold to investors worldwide using unified regulatory and investor protection requirements. Ucits fund providers who meet the standards are exempt from national regulation in individual European countries. Source: Investopedia.com