Peter Brown (ZEDRA): Structuring for agile growth
©DR
Having joined ZEDRA as the Head of Luxembourg in October of 2024, Peter Brown has hit the ground running, prioritising team culture, driving growth and addressing the needs of underserved market segments.
What attracted you to the role at ZEDRA, and how are your plans evolving after your first year with the team?
ZEDRA has grown rapidly over the last few years through a series of acquisitions funded by our long-term partners, Corsair Capital and British Columbia Investments. I was attracted by the strong sense of culture, entrepreneurial spirit and family feel to the business something that has been retained through the years despite now operating across 17 key jurisdictions. In Luxembourg, we have 65 colleagues across two offices in the City and in Capellen. My main focus has been bringing colleagues together across both locations to support our shared ambition: to be the leading corporate and fund administration business for emerging and mid-market managers and investors a group which remains underserved in the market. I am really excited to be working with such a talented team, which I am further supplementing with new colleagues to support our growth plans.
What opportunities do you identify for Luxembourg in general and for service providers?
While current geopolitical uncertainties are causing some investors to pause, a significant amount of private and institutional capital is still looking for opportunities to invest in private assets here in Luxembourg. With a focus on supporting venture capital and investment here in the Grand Duchy across start-ups and fintech, this is presenting a great opportunity for wealth creation. Innovations such as tokenization are helping to democratise private assets and enable access at lower ticket sizes for private investors. A key challenge for all asset service providers is improving core processes and automating critical client functions, such as investor onboarding and reporting. By freeing up time to shift their focus from backward looking production, to forward looking, insight driven activities you begin to truly add value. AI will bring clear benefits to repeatable and low-value tasks, but remains a threat when it comes to cyber-crime - a major concern for investors, and one that will require industry wide collaboration and investment to combat.
“While delivering on the day-to-day activities is crucial, clients want a long term, trusted partner who works with them to develop solutions.”
How do you attract and retain clients and employees at ZEDRA?
For employees, culture is key. Fostering an inclusive and collaborative approach, supporting colleagues with their own development and enabling them to get involved in the local business community is crucial to attracting and retaining good people. Some simple factors also make a notable difference, such as a clean and welcoming office, decent facilities and equipment , team events, breakfasts and internal training sessions. Together these all contribute to helping people bond, learn and work effectively together. For clients, it’s all about deeply understanding their business, their priorities, and anticipating their needs. While delivering on the day-to-day activities is crucial, clients are looking for a long term, trusted partner someone who works with them to develop solutions, keeps them abreast of industry developments and best practice, and connects them with the right people to support their growth plans.