Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry

ALFI (Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d'Investissement) is the official representative body for the Luxembourg investment fund industry and was set up in November 1988 to promote its development.

ALFI's Articles of Association were amended in April 2000 and, as well as investment funds, the association now includes a wide selection of service providers: custodian banks, fund managers and administrators, transfer agents, fund distributors, law firms, consultants and tax advisers, auditors and accounting firms, IT services companies, etc.

Mission

"Lead industry efforts to make Luxembourg the most attractive international centre for investment funds"

ALFI plays a proactive role in leading industry efforts to turn Luxembourg into the most attractive international centre for domiciling and distributing investment and pension funds and the main gateway to the European and global fund markets.

Objectives

The four main objectives are:

• Help members capitalise on industry trends

by providing a framework for information sharing via meetings, the Internet and the Association's annual conferences and promoting the visibility of its members;

• Shape regulations

by working actively with the supervisory body, the government and law makers when writing EU directives into national legislation or creating a regulatory framework for specific products so as to defend Luxembourg's competitive advantage as an investment fund centre;

• Encourage professionalism, integrity and quality

by offering training and skills enhancement to industry professionals, by drafting a code of good conduct, transparency and corporate governance and by supporting the fight against money laundering;

• Promote the Luxembourg fund industry

by maintaining close relations with political and economic policy makers at national and European level, by supporting the industry's efforts to develop new products, by representing the sector in the context of global economic missions, by participating actively in industry gatherings at world level and by building up proactive national and international press relations.

Organisation

ALFI's organisation reflects the international nature of the Luxembourg fund industry.

The Board of Directors is composed of 24 members representing investment funds and service providers from six countries in two continents.

The international and multi-disciplinary nature of the Executive Committee and the close to 50 Technical Committees and working groups coordinated by the General Secretariat provides the basis for developing valuable synergies.

Scope

European regulations are steadily reducing the scope of national legislators but ALFI can act at European as well as national level through its membership of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).

Its presence on the Board of Directors and active involvement in numerous EFAMA working groups enables it to defend the interest of its members when European directives are being drafted.