BNY Mellon Wins Depositary Mandate for Alternative Funds in Germany and Luxembourg

BNY Mellon has been appointed as depositary for a proportion of the alternative investment holdings of Alceda Asset Management in Germany and Alceda Fund Management in Luxembourg.

The mandate also covers assets held in alternative investment funds issued by Aquila Capital, a leading investment company for alternative investments and investments in real assets. Both Aquila Capital and Alceda are part of the Aquila Group, which has €7.2 billion assets under management.

The new strategic partnership sees BNY Mellon for the first time providing depositary and related services in Germany for closed alternative investment funds investing in property, agriculture, private equity and renewable energies.
In addition, BNY Mellon and Alceda Asset Management (as the designated portfolio management company on behalf of Aquila Capital in Germany) will work together to establish the first agricultural fund issued under the terms of the new legislation. Further funds are already in the planning stage.

Following the implementation in Germany of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers’ Directive (AIFMD) and the new Capital Investment Act (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch – KAGB) on July 22, 2013, closed-end funds, which were previously unregulated, have to be managed by capital investment companies regulated by the BaFin, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. Assets belonging to closed alternative investment funds (AIFs) are now required to be held by a depositary, usually a custodian bank.