Deloitte Luxembourg and Elvinger Hoss Prussen, with the support of FT Live, gathered around 550 senior fund professionals at the sixth annual Cross-Border Distribution Conference at the European Convention Center on Tuesday. The full-day conference offered the audience a comprehensive view of the main trends and challenges faced by the fund industry. Through key note speeches and lively panel discussions, 27 internationally renowned speakers took the stage to share insights and experience, some of whom made announcements that made it to the headlines the following day.

Mixed views
“The success of the fund industry is based on its global nature and the current political climate creates uncertainties and new boundaries. We see that industry players appreciate the opportunity to get together to share their views on how the investment management process and the scope of the passporting regime could be affected in the current context,” explained Lou Kiesch, Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg and co-host of the conference.     

The regulators were given ample speaking time, represented by ESMA’s Richard Stobo and CSSF director Claude Marx. The recent discussions around supervisory convergence and the role of the national competent authorities made these updates particularly relevant. Claude Marx explained the role the CSSF plays in ESMA’s supervisory coordination network, which according to ESMA focuses specifically on the relocation of UK market participants to mainland Europe. 

“Policy makers have recently brought about changes that increase transparency and protection for the investors, and these initiatives are welcomed by the industry. Nevertheless, we fail to understand the benefit of a number of other ongoing initiatives such as the review of delegation arrangements and supervisory authorities. There is no need to fix what is not broken,” stated Jacques Elvinger, Partner at Elvinger Hoss Prussen and co-host of the conference.

A call for better integration
Sven Gentner, Head of Unit for Asset Management DG FISMA, the European Commission, gave an update on the European Commission’s action plan to ensure that the industry offers a choice of funds that works for investors, at a low cost and with high quality, and where the necessary information for retail investors are readily available.

In line with current industry trends, part of the conference programme was dedicated to the increasingly important role of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dimension of the investment process.

After highlighting recent regulatory developments and the changing demographics and expectations of the new investor base, the conference ended on a high note with the daring and outspoken Brexit panel, fronted by UK fund manager Gina Miller.

For more information about the Cross-Border Distribution Conferences, please visit: https://www.cross-border.lu/.