Since its inception in 1996, EFA’s range of services has expanded far beyond fund administration – it is now a specialised financial services company and a market reference in tailor-made services, with around €167 billion in assets under administration at the close of 2021.
Universal Investment Group is currently one of the leading fund service platforms in Europe with around €750 billion in assets under administration, becoming one of the major international players in the market.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Luxembourg financial watchdog CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) and should be completed in the second half of 2022 and for good reason – with a record of around 6 trillion in 2021, Luxembourg is the second largest fund centre in the world after the US.
Following the merger, EFA will act as Universal Investment’s international platform for investor services in Luxembourg and France, complementing the group’s main platform in Frankfurt for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Both companies want to “significantly develop geographical regions like the Nordics, France and Benelux” to eventually become “the leading European investor services platform and super management company”.
CEO Universal Investment Group Michael Reinhard went even further by specifying that this partnership will also enable them to provide customers the full investor services spectrum.
