The Legal 500

Arendt & Medernach has ‘particular strength and depth in the UCITS sector of investment funds’, and provides ‘an excellent service overall’. Its partners ‘demonstrate an accurate insight into pending developments and interpretation of new regulations and have good relationships with regulatory bodies’. The practice handles fund structuring and all subsequent investment management matters and provides a corporate transactional advisory service. Michèle Eisenhuth has ‘deep technical and market knowledge, is very commercial and understands the needs of her clients’. Claude Kremer, Claude Niedner Francis Kass and Isabelle Lebbe are also recommended. Private equity funds expert Laurent Schummer joined from Linklaters LLP in 2012.

Elvinger, Hoss & Prussen’s investment funds practice has been active in consultations on the AIFM Directive, and advised on the implementation of KIIDs by UCITS, among a raft of regulatory mandates. The firm also advised on the Committee of European Securities Regulators’ guidelines relating to money market funds, and recently advised Franklin Templeton on the creation of one of the first sukuk UCITS funds. Gast Juncker, Jacques Elvinger and Jérôme Wigny are highly recommended.

Hermann Beythan’s impressive investment management team at Linklaters LLP advised Swiss & Global on creating a first range of cross-border master-feeder funds under UCITS IV as well as on the structuring and drafting of a range of smart ETFs. Other work included setting up a commodity tracker fund with a tailor-made commodity index, and updating Swiss & Global’s insurance linked securities fund. Freddy Brausch is ‘a key and influential professional with a high degree of technical ability’. Emmanuel-Frédéric Henrion and managing associates Silke Bernard, and Christian Hertz are also recommended.

Allen & Overy Luxembourg focuses on sophisticated UCITS, private equity funds and alternative funds, including real estate and infrastructure funds. Highlights included advising Bank of America Merrill Lynch on establishing a Luxembourg-based specialised investment fund platform; and BNP Paribas on upgrading 12 ETFs to comply with UCITS IV. The team has also advised large institutional investors such as the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund on investment due diligence. Practice co-heads Jean-Christian Six and Pierre Schleimer are recommended, as is counsel Renaud Graas. Patrick Goebel joined Dechert Luxembourg.

Chevalier & Sciales helps clients ‘to meet investment goals within the negotiated budgets, time-wise and cost-wise’. The team ‘can handle complex matters and provides clear-cut solutions’. The firm, which has ‘a thorough knowledge of the fund industry’, recently created alternative UCITs, traditional UCITs, master feeder UCITS IV structures and SIFs for banks and leading fund managers. It has also been involved in the restructuring of UCITs management companies and represented clients in fund-related litigation. Olivier Sciales and Rémi Chevalier are recommended.

Clifford Chance’s Joëlle Hauser sits on the UCI Committee (Comité OPC) of the CSSF, and is involved in several technical groups at the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry. The practice has extensive experience in real estate, infrastructure and renewable energy funds.

Dechert Luxembourg is ‘business-oriented, represents good value for money and advice is always appropriate’. The team advised on the restructuring of a non-UCITS retail fund with master feeder sub-funds. Antonios Nezeritis is ‘a fantastic attorney – he understands the asset management business and knows the market’. Marc Seimetz is also recommended. The team recruited Patrick Goebel from Allen & Overy Luxembourg in 2012.

Loyens & Loeff is praised for its ‘commerciality’ and has developed an ability to ‘be flexible and think about out-of-the-box structures’. The firm has particular strength in private equity, real estate and hedge funds, and is developing its UCITS practice. The team handles fund formation, launches and transactional work. Marc Meyers, Thibaut Partsch and Johan Terblanche are recommended.

NautaDutilh’s ‘great investment fund team’ advised Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure SICAV on one of the first ever Luxembourg SICAVs to be admitted to the UK Official List as a closed-end fund. Pierre Reuter is ‘accommodating, knowledgeable and fair’.

Baker & McKenzie Luxembourg’s emerging investment funds practice covers UCITs and non-UCITs work. Laurent Fessmann’s group recruited counsel Sandrine Leclercq, formerly general counsel at Caceis, and tax partner Christophe Clément, who joined from Clifford Chance and specialises in fund structuring. Jean-François Findling is also recommended.

Bonn & Schmitt’s ‘high-quality’ team advised UBI SICAV on the creation of new sub funds and KIID-related issues. Other clients include Generali Fund Management and Banque LBLux. Marcus Peter is recommended along with senior counsel Corinne Philippe, who is a UCITS specialist.

Luc Courtois is the key contact at Bonn Steichen & Partners, which specialises in setting up UCITS and also has expertise spanning real estate funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and carbon funds.

Kleyr Grasso Associes advises private equity fund clients, and is involved in both regulated and unregulated private equity transactional structures. It advised GSO Capital Partners LP on its $780m private equity buyout of Tekelec. Other clients include Steinfort Capital Growth SICAV-SIF and BlackRock. Rina Breininger and Patrick Chantrain are recommended.

MNKS recently advised on the reorganisation of a private equity fund into an umbrella SICAR, and set up a compartmentalised private equity fund. Katia Scheidecker has particular expertise in the private equity side of regulated funds.

Samia Rabia heads Wildgen, Partners in Law’s investment funds practice, which has been advising an asset manager on managing its real estate funds, and advised another investment manager on UCITs IV.

CMS has advised a Swiss-based asset manager on forming a fund to invest in Turkish and Black Sea loans. Clients appreciate Vivian Walry’s ‘responsiveness and availability as well as his client-oriented approach’.

Max Welbes’ investment funds group at Luther is expert in real estate funds and SIFs, and in advising insurance companies on asset management.

Molitor Avocats à la Cour’s investment funds practice is a natural extension of its tax expertise, and its lawyers are ‘very responsive and commercial, and not overly academic or technical in their approach’. Laurent Fisch embodies these traits and is also ‘very creative and prepared to think laterally about how to solve a problem’.

Frédéric Feyten’s investment funds group at OPF Partners advises on regulated and unregulated funds. Clients include Apax, Terra Firma, GI Partners and CVC Partners. François Pfister joined Ogier. Sadly, Harold Parize passed away in 2012.

Vandenbulke’s Denis Van Den Bulke and Laurence Jacques provide ‘prompt responses and quality advice’, and are ‘always commercial and focused on where the client needs to be – it’s refreshing’.

Linari Law Firm joins the table. One client notes how, ‘I must sound slightly bizarre but the overall level of service is just perfect. They respect deadlines, and actually they speed up the process’. Vincent Linari-Pierron is recommended.

M Partners’ Vanessa Molley has experience advising on hedge funds and other alternative investment vehicles.

Ogier launched its Luxembourg office in 2012. The office managing partner is investment funds expert François Pfister, who was formerly a partner at OPF Partners.

Rutsaert Legal recently set up an unregulated fund organised as a limited partnership to invest in commercial real estate in southern Sweden for Nordic institutional investors, and has set up a registered fund investing in equities listed in Africa. Pierre de Backer and Quentin Rutsaert are recommended.