Agefi Luxembourg - juillet août 2024

AGEFI Luxembourg 20 Juillet / Août 2024 Fonds / ESG By Claus JØRGENSEN, CEO VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA A s a dynamic location for pri- vate banking and fundbu- siness in the heart of Europe, Luxembourg is an ideal starting point for VPBank’s cross- border activities. As the sixth largest financial centre in the EU, theGrandDuchyoffers extensive in- ternational expertise and awide range of investment instruments. It is no coinci- dencethattheworld’sleadingassetman- agers have chosen Luxembourg as the centrefortheirinternationalactivitiesand fund ranges. AsapioneerintheimplementationofEu- ropeanfundregulation,Luxembourghas played a key role in opening upmarkets for international fund distribution and givingEuropeanprivateandinstitutional clientsaccesstointernationalinvestments. Luxembourgisthesecondlargestlocation for investment funds worldwide and number 1 in Europe. Investment funds domiciledinLuxembourgaredistributed in 80 countries. International know-how of VP Bank VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA is a wholly owned subsidiary of VP Bank Group and has been offering tailor-made cross- border banking and fund services since 1988. To date, it is the only subsidiary of a Liechtenstein bank in the Grand Duchy. For over 35years, the company’s 160 employees have been dedicated to asset management, investment advice and the fundbusiness, aswell as - thanks to theEUpassport - cross-border services within the EU. The company’s ownexpertise, combined with a network of knowledge and re- sources, forms a solid basis for meeting the expectations of its clients. The geo- graphical focus is on Germany and the Nordiccountries(Sweden,Denmarkand Norway), and the Luxembourg location acts as the group’s EUhub. In addition, VP Bank offers institutional custody banking and brokerage services forfinancialintermediaries.Asacustodian bank for funds, the bank acts alone or to- gether with the fund competence center VPFundSolutionsasaone-stopshopand offers all the services thatmake up the in- ternational fundbusiness. Reflecting the country’s multicultural background, 19 nationalitieswith a vari- ety of spoken languages are represented at VP Bank and VP Fund Solutions. VPBank (Luxembourg) SA– the local network in the heart of Europe VP Bank’s involvement in various local organisations inLuxembourg reflects its commitment not only to achieving busi- ness excellence, but also to being sus- tainablynetworked inLuxembourg and to supporting young entrepreneurs. VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA is a member ofthe“InstituteforFinancialIntegrityand Sustainability” (IFIS) association and ac- tively supports it in organising specialist lectures and events. IFIS is a forum for promoting integrity and sustainability practicesinfinancialinstitutionsandmar- kets, bringing together practitioners from financialinstitutionsandotherstakehold- ers fromhome and abroad. With the event series “VP Bank Experi- ence-MingleontheTop”,VPBankoffers eventswithwhichitwantstosupporten- trepreneuriallymindedpeopleinLuxem- bourg. The events are intended to stimulatethoughtandprovideaplatform where young entrepreneurs, innovation, science and bankingmeet regularly. VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA is also one of the 71 organisations that have signed the Luxembourg Charter of “Luxembourg Sustainable Finance” (LSFI) - “Women in Finance”.As amember of the charter, VP Bank (Luxembourg) has committed to achieving an average quota of 36% women in management positions over the next two years. Furthermore, VPBankoffers tailoredad- vice and support forwomen on all topics relating tomoney, independence, invest- ingandpensionprovisionthroughitsFe- male Finance Community. Cross-border as a challenge and opportunity for banks Cross-border offerings are often compli- catedandvery costly for abank to imple- ment. VP Bank offers a professional al- ternative to clients from Germany and Scandinavia who are looking for a part- ner with international expertise and ex- perience. In this way, the bank can be a reliable partner for clients who require international and cross-border services such as private banking and asset man- agement. Germany has been an important target market for VP Bank Group for many years. The highest priority is long-term businesswith those clients forwhomse- curity is paramount. In Luxembourg, VPBank therefore has support teams for German customerswhowant a range of products and services tailored to the market and who want to ensure and comply with regulatory requirements. Acertified teamof client advisors forms a professional basis for building inter- national wealth management services that meet the needs of Luxembourg, German and Scandinavian clients. A strong IT and e-banking platform en- ables the bank to support a wide range of client requirements. With the entire know-howof the group, VP Bank in Luxembourg therefore also offers itself as a reliable partner to wealthy clients and local assetmanagers who are looking for investment oppor- tunities outside the region. Sustainability and Finance Sustainability is akey issue for banks. By integrating sustainability criteria into all business processes, banks can make an active contribution to the sustainablede- velopment of the financial industry and, for example, systematically monitor the achievement of sustainable criteriausing theUnitedNations SustainableDevelop- ment Goals. VPBankhasdeveloped the “Sustainabil- ity Plan 2026”; it includes activities re- lated to the product range and business activities. With the “Investing for Change” initiative, sustainabilityaspects are consistently integrated into the in- vestment and advisory process. And with the “VPBankSustainabilityScore”, investments are assessed in terms of sus- tainability criteria. For three years, VP Bank has been pub- lishing a sustainability report that was written in accordance with the interna- tional standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the SASB (Sustain- ability Accounting Standards Board) in- dicators. These standards are considered the best internationally recognised set of rulesforpublicreportingonacompany’s economic, ecological and social issues and also serve as a guide for VP Bank. Outlook for the next fewyears Further changes and consolidation in the market are to be expected in the future. Regulatory requirements continue to in- crease sharply - this means that banks must continuously develop their processes and, above all, support stan- dardprocesses digitally. Thereisgreatpotentialforthefutureofin- novativebanks here - by solving their ad- ministrativeprocessesdigitallyinorderto have enough time for the core compe- tence of personal advice. A consistent IT strategyand targeteddigitalisation initia- tives are therefore essential. The fact that the banking market is changing signifi- cantly with its increasing degree of digi- talisation offers great opportunities for banks. VP Bank’s “Strategy 2026” takes these trends fully into account. VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA has set itself the goal of being a preferred partner for clientswith cross-border needs. These in- clude clients in the intermediary sector, such as external asset managers and trustees, but also clients in the fund busi- ness and private banking sector. From Luxembourg, the company takes advan- tage of the opportunity to seize opportu- nities, as the bank can also use the offerings of other entities in the group, such as Liechtenstein, Zurich, Singapore andHongKong. VPBank is therefore a reliablepartner for all customers who require international and cross-border services. VPBank in Luxembourg: Successful EU hub T heAmundi World Invest- ment Forum, held on June 13th and 14th at the Carrou- sel du Louvre in Paris, brought to- gether more than 60 speakers in front of an audience of 1,000 peo- ple fromover 80 countries. The event featured in-depth discus- sions on geopolitical issues, the transformation of economies, major global macroeconomic trends and their implications for investment. In her opening statement, Valérie Baud- son, Chief Executive Officer of Amundi, shared her beliefs on the state of the world: “ the economic outlook is im- proving” , with global GDP growth around 3% in 2024 and in 2025, whilst “ energy transition and technological inno- vations are at the heart of geopolitical ten- sions, as they shape the ability of nations to maintain a position or gain power.” The main conclusions are: Major political & economic shifts are threatening longstanding security and trade alliances During the first day of debates, global politics impacting economies was at the forefront of the speakers’ inter- ventions. Sanna Marin, Prime Minister and Head of Government of Finland (2019-2023), focusedher intervention on the ongoing conflict in Europe, stating “ a big game is being played between democ- racies and authoritarian regimes. What is happening in Ukraine will define the future of democracy .” She urged Europe and NATO to offer “ larger perspectives ” and reminded the audience that “ geopolitics is not the only threat humanity is facing, there is also climate change and the loss of biodiversity .” Ricardo Reis, A.W. Phillips Professor of Economics at the London School of Eco- nomics, explains themovements of gov- ernment bonds by three factors: “ The large current account deficits from China and the rest of Asia leading to a large flow of capital towards Europe and the United States, the stagnation of investment due to very fewopportunities in the 2010s, and gov- ernment bonds were seen as very safe with notmuch of an inflation risk. Today, all three factors have reverted. ” Keyu Jin, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, predicted that “ the three fastest-growing economies of the next few years will be in Asia: China, India and Indonesia.” Shediscussed “the need for convergence ” in theregion:“ Chinahasroomtoconvergewith other richer countries, India also has a huge amount of room to converge with China .” The Rt Hon Dr. Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (2007-2010) &Chancellor of the Exchequer (1997-2007), closed off the first day of debates with a message of hope stating that “ even in the most diffi- cult circumstances, even when things are very dark, you must maintain hope. There are still signs of hope in this world economy that we should build on, like Mandela said, “build for the future.” Decarbonising theworld’s economies is one of the greatest challenges ahead Decarbonising economies has been one of the main focuses of discussions. Di- nesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of the State Bank of India, highlighted the “ im- mense ” potential of his country: “ We are now embarking on green power, which is being adopted in a significant way.” Two case studies were put forward. Chee Hao Lam, Chief Repre- sentative of the MonetaryAuthority of Singapore at the London Office, dis- cussed how Singapore articulates pub- lic policy and investors’ mobilisation to fund the energy transition. Dr. Kevin K. Kariuki, Vice-President Power, Energy Climate Change & Green Growth at the African Develop- ment Bank Group, talked about financ- ing the green energy infrastructure of a continentwhich“ requires 25 billion dollars per year to achieve universal access to mod- ern energy by 2030. ” The rapid acceleration of technologi- cal development has created new opportunities and pressures Maurice Levy, Chairman Emeritus of Publicis Group, opened the second day’s discussionwith the rise of genera- tive artificial intelligence. He believes that “ on one hand, people thinkAI is proba- bly the dream of tomorrow, that will change lives [...], and especially for companies, their productivity and profitability. At the same time, we see fear of layouts and job replace- ment, but most importantly, we need to ad- dress the implications regarding democracy with the use of deep fakes .” DaronAcemoğlu, MIT Institute Profes- sor, stated that “ the key decision for CEOs is going to be how to useAI with theworkers, with the human resources. Whether you view workers as a cost to be cut or as an im- portant resource that’s going to contribute to the success of your company”. Dr. Aurélie Jean, Computational Scien- tist, entrepreneur and author, comple- mented this: “ AI is not protecting workers enough. The owners of technologies, the de- velopers, the scientists and engineers have a responsibility to provide users with the right information, they must protect yet encour- age innovation.” Experts reminded financial services are at the heart of the AI revolution. “ There is a huge opportunity to turn the European savers into future European investors, and if AI can help with that, it will help to im- prove society ,” said Dr. Kay Swinburne, Baroness Swinburne. A significant demographic shift is influencingmany aspects of our lives Mauro Guillén, Professor of Manage- ment and Vice Dean at the Wharton School, said that “ the key question is how to ride the wave of demographic transforma- tions [...] Indiawill soon have the largest con- sumermarket in theworld due to its younger population, even though China will have the largest economy .” Demographics will have an impact on investment trends as “ most of the world’s wealth, between 60% and 80% depending on the country, is owned by people over 60 years old .” Thus, the need for “ investment platforms to be safe, educational about risks and opportunities, and accessible ” to all. 2024 edition of the Amundi World Investment Forum “The economic outlook is improving” ©Amundi