Frank Jons: chromatic explosions!
He could have ended up as a partner in an auditing firm, but a job interview convinced him to follow his true calling: painting. Interview.
Pierre Weimerskirch (Apex Group): A Single-Source Solution for Asset Managers
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For many in the financial sector, out-sourcing has become a route to greater efficiency. We talked with Pierre Weimerskirch, Country Head for Luxembourg Apex Group Ltd., about the benefits of this approach and what his company has to offer. Interview.
What have been the key moments for Apex over the past year?
Apex is a truly global organization which moves forward at an incredible speed and a lot has happened in that time. We’ve successfully integrated the businesses of Sanne, Maitland and more recently MJ Hudson in Luxembourg. The acquisitions enabled us to expand our range of services, as well as our pool of qualified employees and experienced business leaders, supporting our position as a leading service provider in Luxembourg for asset management. The Luxembourg leadership team has taken various initiatives to raise awareness of the Apex brand, being more present in the global conversation and conveying a clear message to the market about how we can support our clients through our single source solution.
“Even the largest managers now understand that an outsourced model is most efficient.”
Pierre Weimerskirch, Luxembourg Apex Group
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How do you assess the current situation of the company in this economic context?
Apex Group is doing relatively well in the current difficult macroeconomic environment. On the back of rising interest rates and inflation, and a drop in investment activity, investment managers are focusing on operational efficiency. They’re reviewing in-house operations, looking for opportunities with third-party providers like Apex that offer scale and leverage. With more than 80 offices in 40 countries, Apex is supporting several managers with the lift-outs of internal functions. Private debt has been one of our biggest winners this year. With our market position in the debt space we were able to win several new clients, and we now support many of the top 20 European credit managers. We’ve also experienced strong growth for our ESG services, thanks to a dramatic shift from in-house data collection to independent data assessment, verification and benchmarking. Even the largest managers now understand that an outsourced model is most efficient.
What are your goals and vision for the next three years?
A key objective is to further integrate the different businesses in Luxembourg to present the one Apex brand, a single and prominent brand offering the broadest range of services in Luxembourg. To cement our long-term commitment to the jurisdiction, we’ve rented additional office space to bring the different entities closer together and allow for seamless client servicing. As a firm, we’re very excited about technological developments in asset management and the opportunities this offers our clients. We’re deploying new technologies to digitize fund processes and launch more technology-enabled products such as tokenized funds. In three years’ time, we will resemble a tech firm more than a typical financial service provider. This underlines our ambition to be an innovation-led company.
