The Luxembourg Alternative Administrators Association (L3A) is pleased to welcome KPMG Luxembourg as a new Associate Member.
Read this short interview of Alexandre Hector, Partner, Alternative investments.
1° Can you outline the history and activity of your company in a few words?
With more than 1,800 people, KPMG in Luxembourg is one of the country’s leading audit, tax and advisory firms providing the full range of services to major national and international clients active in the financial, insurance, commercial and industrial sectors. The firm is part of the KPMG global network of professional firms which operates in 143 countries and employs more than 265,000 people.
Our approach to relationships and service delivery is designed to help clients seize new opportunities, improve performance by bringing people, data and technology together and manage risk. KPMG is one of the market-leading professionals providing services to funds of every size and at every stage of the growth lifecycle. Our focus is on providing fund managers clarity, confidence, and insights to succeed.
We also participate in and/or chair various industry groups in Luxembourg, including the “Haut Comité de la Place financière”, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Bankers’ Association (ABBL), the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LPEA), the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA).
2° You have recently decided to join L3A - what are the key reasons behind this?
One of the critical strengths of the Luxembourg fund ecosystem is the efficient connection between all stakeholders of the asset management industry (central administrations, transfer agents, depositaries, regulator, management companies, lawyers, auditors etc.). “No company is an island” in the alternative assets industry if I may say so myself. Our ability to discuss and collaborate on how to improve the services provided in Luxembourg and promote the country as a center of excellence for alternative assets is critical for our future. And L3A is a great forum we wish to join for this type of exchange and collaboration.
3° What do you believe you can offer to L3A and the alternative administrator provider ecosystem?
As an audit partner in the alternative assets industry, I am in close contact with GPs and all representatives of the industry daily and I feel I’m able to understand and share the challenges and opportunities of the sector. This experience would definitely help L3A bring a positive independent point of view of the operations and services provided in Luxembourg.
I’m also working a lot with other associations and networks in Luxembourg, such as the LPEA, ALFI and ABBL. The interaction with other associations of our industry is important to work shoulder-to-shoulder on our main priorities.
But more than my personal input, collaboration in a committee is essential. As co-chairman of the operation committee, I look forward to the opportunity to meet and explore the main priorities or challenges of our sector and see how we can work on them, be it through working groups, conferences, workshops on specific topics, specific communications or introduction to disruptive players of our sector.
4° What do you see as the greatest opportunities offered by Luxembourg in the alternative administrator provider market? What are the main challenges to be tackled in order to capitalize on these opportunities?
Luxembourg remains at the heart of Europe for the alternative assets where administrators obviously play a key role in the development of our financial center.
Despite a recent slowdown in capital raise, the alternative assets industry keeps on growing significantly and diversifying:
The “real economy” still needs significant financing to grow and private equity funds are in the perfect position to support this growth;
Private debt funds have become attractive again due to the recent increase of interest rates;
“Retailization” or “democratization” of alternative assets is currently on everyone’s mind;
ESG considerations have started transforming expectations in our sector;
And last but not least, tokenization is right at our doorstep.
Rather than seeing these as challenges, I see them more as incredible opportunities for the sector’s development in Luxembourg. To remain the clear choice for investors, Luxembourg and its ecosystem of service providers must be able to efficiently support the growth in volume and complexity of our industry. We want to play an active role in the preparation of the future of the Luxembourg alternative funds sector.