Luxembourg-domiciled fund assets rose by 24 per cent to USD2,673.0bn (EUR1,924.5bn) over the year to the end of 2009, up from USD2,152.0bn (EUR1,548.1bn) in 2008, according to a report by Lipper.
The number of funds stayed essentially the same at 12,115. This reflects the exceptional circumstances encountered in 2009 when the rationalisation of fund ranges accelerated to exceed fund launches for the first time in many years.
JP Morgan Bank maintained its position as the largest fund administrator by total net assets (USD388.2bn), with RBC Dexia (USD233.0bn) in second and State Street (USD197.9bn) moving up into third place.
For professional firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers remains dominant in auditing 5,181 funds.
Among the legal advisers, Arendt & Medernach (3,043) was ahead of Elvinger Hoss & Prussen (2,788) by number of funds, although the latter has maintained its leading market share by total net assets.
The top promoter of Luxembourg-domiciled funds was Banque de Luxembourg which USD8.37bn.
The revival in stock markets and resulting investor interest has meant that equity fund assets rose by 54 per cent to reach USD801.0bn. Bond funds also enjoyed healthy asset growth of 34 per cent with total net assets reaching USD556.0bn. Among smaller sectors, convertible bond assets more than doubled to reach USD33.8bn.
Interest in fixed income was also reflected in the most popular funds launched over the year with new European bond funds and global bond funds attracting the greatest volume of assets, USD22.3bn and USD21.4bn respectively.
Ed Moisson, director of fiduciary operations at Lipper, says: “With cross-border fund groups enjoying the greatest sales flows in 2009, the Luxembourg industry as a whole has benefited. While the ripple effects from the financial crisis are still being felt, there are a range of issues that the cross-border industry, and Luxembourg at its heart, will need to address as it re-builds for the future.”
