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 Nigel Williams, chairman of Royalton Partners. He is a panellist on the “PE Governance in a changing environment - AIFMD, BEPS, CSSF visits, Risk Management, and more…” talk on Tuesday at 3:15pm. 

Aaron Grunwald: What do you want the audience to get most from the “PE Governance in a changing environment” panel?

Nigel Williams: An insight into how PE governance has changed due to the impact of regulation both in Europe and the US.

From a very high level, what has been the net impact of the AIFMD on PE funds?

It has, one, altered the legal domicile of many funds and brought these funds on shore into the EU; two, it has increased investor protection; and, three, it has created an explicit focus on risk.

In your opinion, will Brexit have a positive, neutral or negative impact on Luxembourg’s PE sector?

Positive, as the UK is no longer a competing domicile for alternatives, including PE funds. Also, many international PE groups who where thinking of or had already obtained AIFM licenses in London will now rent Luxembourg third party AIFMs.

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

14:00 day 2, a regulators perspective [editor’s note: an interview with Jean-Marc Goy of Luxembourg regulator CSSF about “current regulatory hot topics and the potential game changer for real estate”]. It is vital to understand how regulators view the market.

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