Back in 1999, Carmignac, a French fund firm with €34bn in assets under management, opened its first international office in Luxembourg. The aim was to use Luxembourg as a hub “for European distribution and international distribution,” Frédéric Leroux, its current head of the cross asset team, said at Carmignac’s annual investors conference on 23 January 2025. It was a move widely “copied by our competitors.”
Today, Carmignac’s Luxembourg operations employ some 50 staff (out of roughly 300 total employees at seven locations), Kevin Thozet, member of the investment committee at Carmignac, said during an interview in Paris last week.
“Initially, there were three flagship funds” that were converted from a French FCP to a Luxembourg Sicav structure, a type of vehicle that Thozet stated is “well known by many international clients, whether they’re based in Tokyo, Montreal, London, Switzerland, etc.”
“So that’s how it started,” but now “it’s more than just a distribution hub,” Thozet said. “We have people managing money in Luxembourg.” Its “investment solutions team” has four people “running money for dedicated clients.” Its investment “infrastructure” includes a risk management team. Then there’s a local sales team of three who are Luxembourg nationals or who were raised in the grand duchy. “In the end, it’s a people business and it’s important to know local practices, local people, local specificities” and not have a “big gun” from elsewhere “just drop in” to call on clients.
And Carmignac still uses the grand duchy has a fund administration and distribution hub. The firm would not disclose the exact amount of assets managed and administered in Luxembourg, but 22 of the 35 funds listed on the firm’s website are domiciled in the grand duchy.
Private equity
One of those funds is Carmignac Private Evergreen, the firm’s main foray into private assets. The fund launched in May 2024 and had €134m in assets under management as of 31 December 2024. It’s a semi-liquid, open-ended fund, “mainly invested in secondaries.”
Thozet would not be drawn on potential fund launches but said that Carmignac emphases quality over quantity. “We’re not what people call a fund manufacturer. We are an asset manager. Our objective is not to launch a fund flavour of the month, raise assets and move on to something else.” The firm’s first three funds “are still in existence today, [after] 35 years. I don’t know many companies who can say this.”
Carmignac provided travel and accommodation in Paris during its investors conference
