Agefi Luxembourg - octobre 2026

AGEFI Luxembourg 28 Octobre 2026 Marchés &Wealth By Dr. Leïla KAMARA, Associate Researcher at the Business Science Institute & Founder of Kamara Ad­ visory and Sati HAIRAPETYAN, Bachelor student at the Luxembourg School of Business T he revised sustainability reporting framework re­ duces the reporting bur­ den, while creating new questions about transparency, capital allocation and SMEs’ ac­ cess to sustainable finance. A simplified framework for corporate sustainability reporting The financial sector has been aware of the revisedEuropean SustainabilityReporting Standards (ESRS) since the European Commission adopted the amendments in July 2026. Their publi­ cation in theOfficial Journal of theEuropeanUnion on 21 September 2026 marks an important step in the evolution of the European sustainability report­ ing framework. What does this revision mean for companies and investors? The updated rules are due to take effect on 10 November 2026 and apply to financial years begin­ ning on or after 1 January 2027. The purpose of sus­ tainability reporting remains to provide a fair representation of a company’s material sustainabil­ ityrelated impacts, risks andopportunities, together with an explanation of how these aremanaged. The revised standards do not eliminate the fundamental principles of sustainability reporting such as thema­ terial impacts, governance, strategy, risk manage­ ment, policies, actions, metrics and targets. This information is intended to help investors make in­ formed investment decisions. However, thenumber ofmandatorydatapoints has been reduced by approximately 60% and the total number of data points by over 70%, while a more topdown approach tomateriality assessment is in­ tended to limit unnecessary work. Companies are no longer expected to assess every possible impact across every topic and subtopic in the same level of detail. Instead, they should focus on the sustainabil­ ity matters most relevant to their strategy, business model, geographical footprint, sector and business relationships. This approach offers companies greater flexibility to concentrate their resources on material issues without abandoning the underlying objective of sustainability reporting. Why doublemateriality matters to investors The success of the reformshouldnot be measured just by the number of data points eliminated, but by whether the remaining informationsupports investment decisions. Double materiality is central tounder­ standing the value of sustain­ ability information for invest­ ment decisions. It encompass­ es two complementary per­ spectives: impact materiality and financial materiality. Impact materiality concerns the effects a company has on people and the environment. Financial materiality considers how sustain­ abilityrelated matters may affect the company’s financial position, performance, cash flows and access to capital. These dimensions can interact. Environmental impacts and physical climate risks, forexample,mayhavedirectfinancialconsequences. An acute event such as a hurricane could damage a warehouseormanufacturing facility,whilea chronic risk such as drought could restrict access to critical rawmaterials.Sucheventsmayaffectoperatingcosts, businesscontinuityandfinancialperformance.They influence how investors incorporate a company’s risks in its portfolio valuation. Therefore, for investors, sustainability information is not simply a reporting requirement. Qualitative and quantitative data can contribute to the assess­ ment of risks and opportunities, inform portfolio valuations and support investment decisions. The challenge is to identify the sustainability matters that are genuinely material to each company and understand how they translate into financial expo­ sure or opportunities. Anarrower scope for mandatory reporting The revision of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) under the Omnibus I package significantly narrows the population of companies subject to mandatory sustainability reporting. According to European Commission’s 2026 Impact Assessment, approximately 85% of companies originally covered by the CSRD will be exempted frommandatory sustainability reporting. The thresholds described in the revised framework aremore than1,000employees andannual turnover exceeding €450 million, which represents approxi­ mately6,753companies.Thisrepresentsasmallpro­ portionof the total 33.5millionenterprises registered in theEuropeanUnion, according toEurostat (2025). Smallandmediumsizedenterprises(SMEs)account for 99% of them. They represent 48.5% of business employment and generate €12.2 trillion in net turnover, equivalent to 31.5%of the total. Beyond the substantial savings that this reform would generate, with an estimated €4.4 billion for companies to now be exempt from mandatory reporting, and €2.24 billion per year from 2029 onwards for companies that remain in scope, these figures raise two important questions. First, a substantial part of Europe’s economic activity will fall outside mandatory sustainability report­ ing requirements. Companies outside the scope will have greater discretion over how they manage their people andmoney regardless of ESG requirements. Sec­ ond, voluntary disclosure may remain relevant for companies seeking investment. Even when reporting is not mandatory, investors may re­ quire information to assess sustainabilityrelated risks, evaluate business models and understand a company’s transition plans. For SMEs, the decision to disclose sustainability in­ formation may involve costs and resource con­ straints. However, not providing the information expectedby investors couldalso limit their ability to demonstrate their sustainability credentials and compete for certain sources of capital. Private capital: an opportunity for Europeanbusinesses Private capital marketsmay play an important role in financing European companies, including SMEs, as they pursue their development and tran­ sition objectives. EFAMA’s Asset Management Report 2025 esti­ mates European assets under management at €33 trillion and the Private Equity market at approxi­ mately €1 trillion, at the end of 2024. Luxembourg appears to be a leading European domicile for al­ ternative investment funds, playing a central role in the structuring and distributing private equity, private debt and infrastructure investments. According to the LPEA (Luxembourg Private Equity Data Dashboard, January 2026), the Luxembourg Private Equity market reached approximately €1.09 trillion in net assets in 2024, including private equity, related funds of funds and infrastructure. The continued growth of the market points to further opportunities. State Street Investment Management’s 2026 report, Europe’s Private Capital Edge, highlights the growing share of Western Europe, in private equity allocations, which increased from 24.6% in December 2000 to 47.2% in 2025, a rise of 22.6 percentage points. Alongside thesedevelopments, European initiatives seek to mobilise household savings and channel more investment towardsEuropeanbusinesses. The proposed Market Integration Package (2025/0383) and the Savings and InvestmentsUnionaimto sup­ port this broader objective, including by improving the financing environment for businesses. For SMEs, the combination of developing private capital markets and a simplified reporting frame­ work raises apractical question: howcancompanies demonstrate their sustainability performance and transitionplans inaway thatmeets investors’infor­ mation needs without creating disproportionate reporting costs? Conclusion: reporting simplificationmust go hand in handwith access to capital To conclude, the effectiveness of the revised CSRD and ESRS will depend on balancing sav­ ings on reporting with transparency. The reduc­ tion inmandatory reporting offers clear econom­ ic benefits, particularly for smaller businesses previously spending a large proportion of their resources on reporting. However, this simplifi­ cation does not necessarily eliminate investors’ need for sustainability information. Double materiality remains a useful framework for understanding the relationship between environ­ mental and social impacts, financial risks and investment decisions. For European SMEs, the challenge is to strike a balance between the cost of voluntary disclosure and its potential value in demonstrating their re­ silience, sustainability performance and transition plans to capital providers. As Europe seeks tomobilise private investment to support its economic and environmental transi­ tion, the ability of companies to communicate credible, decisionuseful sustainability informa­ tion may remain an important consideration in their access to finance. The key question is there­ fore not only how to simplify reporting, but also how to ensure that simplification supports an ef­ fective flow of capital towards European busi­ nesses and their sustainable transition. Simplified ESRS: What Does It Mean for Sustainable Investment in Europe? D ans un rapport publié le 7 octobre 2026, Monterey Insight indique que les actifs des fonds et véhicules d’investissement servis au Luxembourg ont atteint 9.400 milliards d’euros en 2025, en hausse de 9 % sur un an. Selon la 32e édition du Luxembourg Intelligence Report, les struc­ tures non réglementées ont par­ ticulièrement contribué à cette progression, avec notamment les Reserved Alternative Investment Funds (RAIF), dont les actifs ont atteint 949 milliards d’euros, soit une hausse de 25 % sur un an. Le rapport précise que ces données couvrent les fonds réglementés et non réglementés luxembourgeois ainsi que les fonds domiciliés dans d’autres juri­ dictions mais servis au Luxembourg, à fin décembre 2025. En dollars, les actifs totaux atteignaient 11.100 milliards de dollars, en progression de 23 % sur un an. Monterey Insight souligne que l’écart entre les évolutions en dollars et en euros reflète notamment l’impact des mouvements de change. Les fonds réglementés représentaient 6.200 milliards d’euros d’actifs, en pro­ gression de 6 % sur un an. Les UCITS demeuraient largement dominants au sein de cette catégorie, avec 5.400 mil­ liards d’euros d’actifs, soit une hausse de 9 % sur un an. Les structures non réglementées ont affiché une croissance plus soutenue. Leurs actifs ont pro­ gressé de 15 % en euros pour atteindre 2.200 milliards d’euros. Les RAIF ont constitué l’un des principaux moteurs de cette évolution, avec des actifs en hausse de 25 % à 949 milliards d’euros. En dollars, leur progression atteint 42 %, à 1.100 milliards de dollars. Les Limited Partnerships luxembourgeois et les SOPARFI ont également enregis­ tré une progression, de 8 % en euros. La progression des marchés privés constitue une autre tendance impor­ tante relevée par Monterey Insight. Le Private Equity et le Venture Capital re­ présentaient 1.720 milliards d’euros d’actifs, en hausse de 25 % sur un an. Avec 6.897 véhicules, cette catégorie constituait la plus importante en nom­ bre de produits, même si les actions de­ meuraient la première classe d’actifs en termes de volume. Les actions représentaient en effet 1.810 milliards d’euros répartis entre 4.114 fondsetcompartiments,soituneprogres­ sion de 21 % sur un an. Les Exchange Traded Equities ont toutefois enregistré la croissance la plus rapide, avec une haussede 40%de leurs actifs à229,9mil­ liardsd’euros,répartisentre224produits. Le dynamisme du marché s’est égale­ ment traduit par une augmentation des nouveaux lancements. Au 31 décembre 2025, les nouveaux fonds et compartiments représentaient 230,9 milliards d’euros d’actifs à travers 1.670 produits réglementés et non réglemen­ tés, contre 192,5 milliards d’euros et 1.629 produits en 2024. Les stratégies de Private Equity et de dette privée représentaient ensemble 39 % des actifs de ces nouveaux pro­ duits et 54 % de l’ensemble des nou­ veaux fonds et compartiments lancés durant l’année. Monterey Insight observe ainsi que les marchés privés continuent de prendre une place importante dans le développement de la place luxembourgeoise. Selon Karine Pacary, Managing Director deMonterey Insight, les struc­ tures non réglementées, notamment les RAIF, les Limited Partnerships et les SOPARFI, continuent de soutenir la croissance du marché, tandis que le Private Equity et le Venture Capital gagnent encore du terrain. Le rapport analyse également la posi­ tion des principaux prestataires de ser­ vices de l’industrie luxembourgeoise. J.P. Morgan conserve la première place du classement des gestionnaires de fonds. Pour lesManCo/AIFM, J.P. Mor­ ganAsset Management (Europe) reste numéro un, devant DWS Investment, Amundi Luxembourg et UBS Asset Management (Europe), les quatre pre­ mières positions restant inchangées par rapport à l’année précédente. Parmi les ManCo/AIFM tiers, Carne Global Fund Managers (Luxembourg) conserve la première place, devant UniversalInvestmentLuxembourg, FundRock LIS et FundRock Manage­ ment Company. Monterey Insight re­ lève notamment le développement du recours à des prestataires externes dans un environnement où les gestion­ naires d’actifs font face à une com­ plexité croissante sur les plans opérationnel et réglementaire. Dans l’administration de fonds, State Street conserve lapremièreplace, devant J.P. Morgan Bank et CACEIS. BNP Paribas progresse à la quatrième posi­ tion, devant BNY. State Street arrive éga­ lement en tête du classement des dépo­ sitaires, devant J.P. Morgan Bank, CACEIS et BNPParibas. Pour les activi­ tés d’agent de transfert, CACEIS prend la première place après la restructura­ tion d’IFDS/ State Street, devant State Street, J.P. Morgan Bank et BNPParibas. Du côté des auditeurs, PwC conserve la première position au Luxembourg, devant EY, Deloitte et KPMG. Pour les conseils juridiques, Arendt & Meder­ nach reste en tête selon le nombre de fonds, devant Elvinger Hoss Prussen. Loyens & Loeff progresse à la troi­ sième place, tandis qu’A&O Shearman occupe la quatrième position. Pour Monterey Insight, ces résultats confirment la position du Luxembourg comme centre international de fonds, avec un marché soutenu à la fois par les véhicules réglementés et non régle­ mentés, le développement des straté­ gies de marchés privés et un écosys­ tème diversifié de gestionnaires, ManCo/AIFM, administrateurs, dépo­ sitaires, agents de transfert, auditeurs et conseils juridiques. Source : Monterey Insight Les RAIF atteignent 949 milliards d’euros d’actifs au Luxembourg ©MontereyInsight