HSF Kramer advises BNP Paribas Asset Management Europe on launch of a new evergreen Luxembourg RAIF offering Scottish Widow’s customers access to private market

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has advised BNP Paribas Asset Management Europe, a leading French asset manager, on the establishment and launch of an open-ended evergreen Luxembourg reserved alternative investment fund (RAIF). The structure will offer Scottish Widow’s customers access to private market investments through a UK feeder open-ended long-term asset fund (LTAF).

The LTAF, designed for the derisking phase of the investment journey of Scottish Widow’s customers, will invest into the RAIF, which will hold a multi-currency, multi-asset portfolio. The portfolio will include infrastructure debt, commercial real estate debt, corporate debt, direct corporate loans, ABS and CLOs, as well as private equity, real estate or infrastructure assets.

The transaction required sophisticated coordination between the AIFMD regime applicable at the level of the RAIF and the UK regulatory framework governing LTAFs. This included navigating specific rules on eligible investors, liquidity management mechanisms, valuation requirements, and detailed disclosure obligations unique to the LTAF regime.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer advised on all aspects of the structuring, including Luxembourg fund formation, regulatory and tax.