IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v56y2024i2p627-644.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Channeling the capital of others: How Luxembourg came to be asset managers’ “plumber†of choice

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Weeks

Abstract

This article analyzes the development and growth of the administrative practices and structures necessary for leading asset management companies and other firms to create and sell their “product†of choice: investment funds. To investigate this problematic, I turn to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which currently serves as the domicile for over $5 trillion in fund assets. Since the 1980s, Luxembourg's “offshore†financial center has become a leader in providing the “plumbing,†to quote an interviewee of mine, for worldwide asset manager capitalism. On offer in Luxembourg to asset managers are the routine-but-essential tasks such as domiciliation, compliance, calculation of net-asset values, and distributions. After a brief history of the rise of asset manager capitalism and Luxembourg's role in it, I detail the strategies by which the Grand Duchy's financial-center professionals collaborate to devise ways to service the ever-increasing varieties of investment funds for sale today. Having used the Luxembourg financial center as a case study, I conclude the article by arguing that, in order to understand contemporary asset manager capitalism, researchers should pay as much attention to its “collaborating administrators†in locales like Luxembourg as they currently do to its “competing titans of industry†on Wall Street or in the City of London.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Weeks, 2024. "Channeling the capital of others: How Luxembourg came to be asset managers’ “plumber†of choice," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(2), pages 627-644, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:2:p:627-644
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X221150012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X221150012
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X221150012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Braun, Benjamin, 2021. "From exit to control: The structural power of finance under asset manager capitalism," SocArXiv 4uesc, Center for Open Science.
    2. Rostain, Tanina & Regan, Jr., Milton C., 2014. "Confidence Games: Lawyers, Accountants, and the Tax Shelter Industry," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262027135, April.
    3. Javier Garcia-Bernardo & Jan Fichtner & Eelke M. Heemskerk & Frank W. Takes, 2017. "Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network," Papers 1703.03016, arXiv.org, revised May 2017.
    4. David Bassens & Laura Gutierrez & Reijer Hendrikse & Deborah Lambert & Maëlys Waiengnier, 2021. "Unpacking the advanced producer services complex in world cities: Charting professional networks, localisation economies and markets," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(6), pages 1286-1302, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Franz Reiter & Dominika Langenmayr & Svea Holtmann, 2021. "Avoiding taxes: banks’ use of internal debt," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(3), pages 717-745, June.
    2. Sébastien Laffitte & Farid Toubal, 2018. "Firms, Trade and Profit Shifting: Evidence from Aggregate Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 7171, CESifo.
    3. Pamela Pogliani & Goetz von Peter & Philip Wooldridge, 2022. "The outsize role of cross-border financial centres," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, June.
    4. Gerner-Beuerle, Carsten & Mucciarelli, Federico M. & Schuster, Edmund & Siems, Mathias, 2018. "Why do businesses incorporate in other EU Member States? An empirical analysis of the role of conflict of laws rules," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 14-27.
    5. Catalin Dragomirescu-Gaina & Leandro Elia, 2022. "A look offshore: unpacking the routes of misinvoicing in international trade," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-156, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Woodgate, Ryan, 2021. "Multinational corporations and commercialised states: Can state aid serve as the basis for an FDI-driven growth strategy?," IPE Working Papers 161/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    7. Meng, Bo & Gao, Yuning & Ye, Jiabai & Zhang, Meichen & Xing, Yuqing, 2022. "Trade in factor income and the US-China trade balance," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Delatte, Anne-Laure & Guillin, Amelie & Vicard, Vincent, 2022. "Grey zones in global finance: The distorted geography of cross-border investments," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    9. Albrese, Eleonora & Casella, Bruno, 2019. "The Blurring of Corporate Investor Nationality and Complex Ownership Structures," MPRA Paper 95202, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jul 2019.
    10. Petr Janský & Miroslav Palanský, 2019. "Estimating the scale of profit shifting and tax revenue losses related to foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 1048-1103, October.
    11. Vijay Pereira & Yama Temouri & Chris Jones & Ashish Malik, 2019. "Identity of Asian Multinational Corporations: influence of tax havens," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(5), pages 325-336, November.
    12. Petr Janský & Jan Láznička & Miroslav Palanský, 2021. "Tax treaties worldwide: Estimating elasticities and revenue foregone," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 359-401, May.
    13. Aiyar, Shekhar & Ohnsorge, Franziska, 2024. "Geoeconomic Fragmentation and "Connector" Countries," MPRA Paper 121726, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Giacomo Bressan & Anja Đuranović & Irene Monasterolo & Stefano Battiston, 2024. "Asset-level assessment of climate physical risk matters for adaptation finance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    15. Richard Bůžek & Christoph Scheuplein, 2022. "The Global Wealth Chains of Private‐Equity‐Run Physician Practices," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 113(4), pages 331-347, September.
    16. Kirsten Martinus & Thomas Sigler & Iacopo Iacopini & Ben Derudder, 2021. "The brokerage role of small states and territories in global corporate networks," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 12-28, March.
    17. Fernando, Garcia Alvarado & Antoine, Mandel, 2022. "The network structure of global tax evasion evidence from the Panama papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 660-684.
    18. Kentor, Jeffrey & Clark, Rob & Jorgenson, Andrew, 2023. "The hidden cost of global economic integration: How foreign investment drives military expenditures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    19. Sacco, Pier Luigi & Arenas, Alex & De Domenico, Manlio, 2023. "The political economy of big data leaks: Uncovering the skeleton of tax evasion," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Manon François & Vincent Vicard, 2023. "Tax Avoidance and the Complexity of Multinational Enterprises," Working Papers halshs-04103793, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:2:p:627-644. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.