Fabrice Jeusette (Apollo): Keeping Luxembourg competitive

Apollo is a leading alternative asset manager that invests in debt instruments, Private Equity and real estate. An interview with Fabrice Jeusette, Managing Director at Apollo Global Management and head of their Luxembourg office.

Can you describe Apollo in a few words?

Apollo is a US-based alternative asset manager that seeks to provide its clients with excess return across the risk/return spectrum, from investment grade to Private Equity. Today, we manage over $520 billion in assets across our equity, yield and hybrid strategies.Founded in 1990, Apollo now employs more than 2,000 people in its asset management business, of whom more than 650 are professional investors. Apollo is headquartered in New York and invests globally, with offices in the world's major financial centres. The company has been present in Luxembourg for over 10 years and, together with its local portfolio entities, employs over 70 people in the country. Apollo is dedicated to "investing in tomorrow today". We challenge convention, embrace complexity and foster the emergence of new ideas. We deploy our capital across all sectors and regions of the world as a solutions provider to public and private companies, to help them finance their growth and success. We focus on building stronger businesses, helping to develop local economies while seeking exceptional returns for our investors. We maintain a disciplined and rigorous approach to delivering better results for our clients and the companies they invest in. We are also committed to helping companies achieve a more sustainable future, including investing in energy transition and decarbonisation projects through our sustainable investment platform. Our investors are primarily retirees, whether we serve them indirectly through institutional pension plans that include some of the world's largest pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, or directly through our wealth management products or individual products offered through Athene, our retirement service business. As a result, we offer a wide range of retirement savings solutions to help meet the long-term goals of our investors.

“Apollo is dedicated to investing in tomorrow today"

For people who are not familiar with the alternative assets sector, this activity seems inaccessible and they don’t think that they have access to it. Is this true?

At Apollo, we see alternative assets simply as a different option to a listed stock or bond. It is important to understand that, at least indirectly, almost all of us have exposure to alternative investments. When you take out a life insurance policy, a pension plan or a home savings plan, it is likely that part of the amount you have invested will be used to invest in alternative funds or products. These funds and products are part of the investment mix that helps banks and insurance companies generate sufficient returns to cover their costs and provide you with the expected contractual returns. In recent years we have seen more and more hedge fund managers, including Apollo, develop products specifically designed for retail investors where, under certain conditions, you and I can invest and benefit from these strategies, which can offer excess return, lower volatility and lower correlation compared to public market strategies. We believe that alternative strategies will continue to account for a larger share of pension funding, in line with the continued growth of private markets. Similarly, many large multinational companies are funding their corporate and development strategies through alternative asset managers. Apollo, as one of the leading providers of capital, helps finance large companies such as AB InBev and AirFrance and also invests in areas such as aircraft leasing, trade finance, commercial real estate, etc. The perpetual and flexible nature of our capital source allows us to act as a provider of rapid financial solutions, supporting the growth of companies and the economy.

How is your business developing in Luxembourg and do you face any particular challenges?

We plan to double our assets under management by 2026. This should generate growth for our local staff and support the growth of our local partners here in Luxembourg. In terms of challenges, our business is constantly evolving and the laws and regulations that govern it are changing rapidly. In this context, we strive to maintain a mutually constructive and supportive relationship with the Luxembourg government and institutions, particularly as other countries seek to attract AIFM business to their local jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands, Italy and the UK.