Alfi conference preview: The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry holds its Private Equity and Real Estate Conference 21-22 November.

In advance of the event, Delano spoke with Frederik Leser, director and conducting officer at Pancura in Luxembourg. He is a panelist during the “Risk management in the real estate world” talk, Wednesday at 2:30pm.

Aaron Grunwald: What do you want the audience to get most from the “Risk management in the RE world” panel?

Frederik Leser: [Risk management] is much more than only a regulatory requirement. It is an integral part of the investment management complementing portfolio management. An (early) involvement of risk management is key and will further strength the investment process to protect investors. Our panel will also talk about the differences between in-house and 3rd party AIFMs.

What is the biggest difference in risk management for real estate funds compared to other types of funds?

The lifecycle of real estate investments bears different risks at different stages. It starts with the acquisition of an asset, then the holding period and exit at disposal. Proper risk management can help to control and mitigate such risk in advance by anticipating such risk at any stage of the lifecycle. In depth understanding of the underlying asset class real estate is key.

Do you think that Brexit will have a positive, neutral or negative effect on Luxembourg’s real estate funds sector?

Luxembourg is known as a political stable country, a true and reliable European partner, and innovative and reputable financial centre for the fund industry for more than 20 years. These are the characteristics that fund managers and investors worldwide and in the UK do appreciate.

Aside from your own talk at the ALFI event, which speech or panel are you most looking forward to hearing?

“Building innovation and digitalisation in RE operating platforms” [editor’s note: Wednesday at 11:20am].

Pancura is on LinkedIn