The May edition of the LSFI Newsletter features an interview with Fanny Nosetti-Perrot, CEO at Banque de Luxembourg Investments
She shares her perspectives on how to adapt to the sustainable finance regulatory developments, the convergence of quality and sustainability, what double impact means in practice, and Luxembourg’s role as a leading European hub.
Fanny Nosetti-Perrot, CEO at Banque de Luxembourg Investments
LSFI: From multi-management specialist to CEO: a coherent journey? You have been leading BLI since July 2022, after more than twenty years dedicated to the selection and management of third-party funds. To what extent has your expertise in multi-management proven to be a solid foundation for addressing the regulatory and sustainability challenges that now define the asset management industry?
Fanny Nosetti-Perrot (F.N.): Spending more than 2 decades in multi-management means you develop a particular way of seeing the world of asset management. You learn to evaluate not just the returns, but the quality of investment process, the robustness of risk frameworks, and the integrity of the people behind them. You become comfortable sitting at the intersection of quantitative rigour and qualitative discernment.
The regulatory landscape in asset management has undergone a structural shift — SFDR, being a big one, and the broader ESG disclosure architecture have fundamentally altered what it means to operate responsibly in this industry. For someone trained in multi-management, regulatory scrutiny is not a novelty. We have always had to assess how external managers interpret and apply compliance frameworks, how they translate regulatory constraints into portfolio construction decisions, and where gaps between stated policy and actual practice exist. That forensic habit of mind translates directly into how I approach our own regulatory governance: not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a question of coherence between what we say and what we do.
LSFI: SFDR: from disclosure to categorisation: how is BLI preparing for SFDR 2.0? Do you see the new framework as an opportunity to better communicate the genuine sustainability ambitions embedded in your funds to investors?
F.N.: We’re monitoring the process of SFDR 2.0 very closely. Since texts may still evolve substantially, we’re staying vigilant without acting prematurely. We expect final implementation around April 2029 as ECON just proposed an extended transition period.
SFDR 2.0 should bring welcome simplifications, including greater flexibility and coherence as well as a positive nod to active engagement. At BLI, we’ll continue our pedagogical approach: communicating honestly about our ESG alignment, without overclaiming impact.
LSFI: Quality and sustainability: two compatible philosophies? BLI’s “Business-Like Investing” approach is built on identifying quality companies with lasting competitive advantages and strong free cash flow generation. In your experience, do companies with solid ESG fundamentals also tend to display the best long-term quality profiles, or do these criteria sometimes come into tension?
F.N.: For us, ESG integration represents a natural evolution: as long-term investors, we’ve always sought to identify the material risks (financial or non-financial) that could undermine an investment thesis. Easier access to non-financial data gave us sharper tools to do so.
ESG shortcomings aren’t necessarily disqualifying, but must be understood, monitored, and where possible addressed via active ownership. As for a proven correlation between financial and ESG quality, we remain cautious — Intellectually speaking, it would be a great deal of logic but the data isn’t there yet.
LSFI: Beyond ESG: what does “Double Impact” really mean in practice? BLI has developed a “Double Impact” strategy in partnership with Funds For Good, combining intra-investment impact with post-investment impact, whereby part of the profits is channelled towards local entrepreneurial and social initiatives. How do you measure the additionality of this dual approach, and do you see it as a model that could be scaled up and replicated more broadly across BLI’s fund range?
F.N.: Our intra-investment impact — selecting companies aligned with SDGs — is real but inherently indirect on secondary markets. This is precisely where FFG’s post-investment action adds genuine additionality: management fee proceeds directly finance local entrepreneurs (interest-free loans and coaching). Entrepreneurs with concrete, inspiring projects, always driven by incredible motivation and a positive, infectious energy. This is real positive impact. These two levers are complementary and independently measurable. We measure their impact using the UN’s SDGs. We are committed to nurturing this partnership.
LSFI: Luxembourg’s future as Europe’s leading hub for sustainable finance, with one of the most advanced ecosystems in the world. From your privileged vantage point, what are the key levers on which the financial centre must continue to invest to consolidate and strengthen this leadership over the next five years?
F.N.: Luxembourg manages nearly a third of European fund assets — a position of unparalleled influence. Consolidating this leadership means continuing to invest on multiple fronts, including sustainable finance. One avenue we find particularly compelling: leveraging this scale to foster active ownership practices across asset managers, including collaborative engagement. Pooling stewardship efforts — potentially through a shared platform — would amplify impact far beyond what individual firms can achieve alone.
