Over the past 25 years, Dupaïs has worked at Linedata, most recently in his role focused on asset management in continental Europe and the UK. With 20 offices worldwide—including in other European financial hubs, like Dublin, London and Paris—Linedata has an established network for addressing client and market needs across Europe.
It also has a historical presence in Luxembourg, with its specific market around ManCos, and the company has kept close watch on the growing regulatory developments not just locally, such as those issued by the Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF), but also in the broader EU regulatory context.
Whether it’s the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) Level II and the whole objective around EU taxonomy, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) fund labelling consultations, or circulars issued by the CSSF, one thing is clear: the complexity of analysis and reporting requirements are leading to an increase cost in compliance, therefore putting pressure on the margins and competitiveness of European ManCos, custodian banks and fund administrators.
According to Dupaïs, clients in Luxembourg are considering how to address those increasing challenges and incorporate them into their systems, even their offering. “We in Europe like to think we are ahead of the curve when it comes to being an example in terms of regulation,” Dupaïs adds. “But it means that we are potentially losing competitive edge when we compare what we are trying to achieve here to what’s required in other regions, like UK after Brexit, but also, and more importantly, the US.”
Additional pressures linked to recruitment
For industry players having to swallow such increasing complexity, financial pressure can be further strained in terms of recruitment. Linedata clients are now “inclined to consider the possibility to outsource things they were doing internally so they can concentrate on keeping their resources, very much focused on the highest value-added tasks,” Dupaïs explains.
We very much see a gap between the US and Europe, in the level of maturity in terms of appetite to outsource. In Luxembourg this gap is not that big, so we believe it’s time for us to tackle that opportunity.
Ingesting the documentation requires mobilising resources, and those resources can be costly, particularly in Luxembourg where salaries can be high. He adds that in Luxembourg, there are additional and unique sensitivities related to compliance aspects in ManCos.
Outsourcing to flexible technological partners with financial expertise, therefore, makes it possible to reduce some of those burdens, but a shift in mindset is still necessary. As Dupaïs puts it, “We very much see a gap between the US and Europe, in the level of maturity in terms of appetite to outsource. In Luxembourg this gap is not that big, so we believe it’s time for us to tackle that opportunity.”
Global services combined with innovative software
Linedata has boosted its innovative solutions extensively over recent years. In 2017, for instance, it acquired Gravitas, a middle office and technology service provider focused on serving the asset management industry, which allowed Linedata not only to enhance its value-add for its own customers' requirements and business models but also deepened its US presence.
That same year it also acquired Hong Kong-based QRMO (Quality Risk Management & Operations), further enhancing Linedata’s offering to the asset management industry.
More recently, in April 2024, Linedata announced the acquisition of French startup, DreamQuark, which “has distinguished itself through the development of its AI engines, notably its SaaS NBA (Next Best Action) solutions, which enhance the satisfaction of advisors and clients by facilitating the identification and prioritisation of actions to be taken.” The technology integrates seamlessly into Linedata's existing software.
But Linedata has also been helping firms leverage AI for years, for instance, with its Analytics Service offering purpose-built, private large language models for a number of use cases. Linedata is currently partnering with a large North American bank in order to make some predictions when it comes to operational risks—a move Linedata hopes to extend, to “make this a transversal layer of our offering within asset management,” Dupaïs adds. Other opportunities are underway in this offering.
Each move has indeed given the company more reach to cross-sell between its global services and software layers. One that is popular in the funds industry is its AI Rule Builder, which helps firms process fund prospectuses to create prospectus rules automatically.
Meanwhile, its Service offering for the resolution of level 1 breaches and data management helps lighten the burden on risk and compliance teams.
Linedata has 1,250 employees in 20 offices worldwide. For more information, please visit .