Elian Fund Services has been authorised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Luxembourg regulator, to act as depositary to managers regulated under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).
The firm, which provides administration services to private equity, hedge funds, real estate and debt funds, obtained depositary authorization from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014. Elian director Paul Lawrence said the administrator was hoping to obtain regulatory authorisation for depositary licenses in Guernsey and Jersey later in 2015.
Depositary is a key facet of AIFMD and requires AIFMs to appoint an entity to provide safekeeping of assets, cash-flow monitoring and oversight. The AIFMD has led to a number of fund managers setting up AIFMD compliant structures to enable them to market and solicit capital from EU institutional investors.
A number of providers are expecting a noticeable increase in onshore Assets under Management (AuM). A study – “Domiciles of Alternative Investment Funds” – published in November 2014 by the Association of the Luxembourg Funds Industry (ALFI) and Oliver Wyman found that the number of alternative funds domiciling in Luxembourg increased by 11% between 2010 and 2013. Of these 169 fund additions, the strongest growth came in private equity and real estate.
“Luxembourg is the jurisdiction of choice for European funds, and Elian is ideally placed to service the needs of alternative investment fund managers and help them meet the regulatory challenges for funds in an efficient way,’ said Lawrence.
Elian Fund Services given depositary approval in Luxembourg
Elian Fund Services has been authorised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, the Luxembourg regulator, to act as depositary to managers regulated under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.