Luxembourg and Ireland in global financial networks: Analysing the changing structure of European investment funds

• Published in: Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965) 2022-06, Vol.47 (2), p.514-528
• Main Authors: Wójcik, Dariusz, Urban, Michael, Dörry, Sabine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accession; Asset management; Assets; Cultivation; Economic geography; Finance; financial centres; financial geography; Funds; Geography; global financial networks; Globalization; International finance; investment funds; Investments; Ireland; Luxembourg; Management; Money; Networks; Public finance; Regulatory agencies; Satellites
• ISSN: 0020-2754; 1475-5661
• DOI: 10.1111/tran.12517

Using a unique database on investment funds and the conceptual framework of global financial networks, this paper examines the spatial structure of the European investment fund industry, with particular focus on Luxembourg and Ireland. Grounded in financial and economic geography, the paper shows how these countries became the leading investment fund domiciles through a mixture of structural factors and agency enabling a fast and flexible implementation of the European Directive on the Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) of 1985, and the cultivation of the investment fund industry ever since. In the process, Luxembourg and Ireland have built on and developed their functions as offshore jurisdictions and international financial centres, both sustained by their governments and regulatory agencies. The analysis of the functional structure of investment funds and their networked geography reveals the increasingly dominant position of London as the investment management centre for the industry, and the increasing concentration of control by large asset management firms. Stripped to its basics, the geography of European investment fund networks is about large, mainly US, asset management firms, creating and managing funds in Luxembourg and Ireland, and investing money through London. As such, the rise of European investment funds can be seen as an example of European financial integration through Americanisation. The Luxembourg and Irish investment fund industry are connected mainly through London and New York, and thus function as satellites of the NY–LON axis, rather than a Luxembourg–Dublin axis in international finance. Overall, the paper demonstrates that studying this seemingly arcane industry, and the role of two small countries in it, reveals much about the nature of financial globalisation. Using a unique database on investment funds and the conceptual framework of global financial networks, this paper examines the spatial structure of the European investment fund industry. We show the growing importance of Luxembourg and Ireland in the industry, driven by European financial integration, which in turn is led by US banks and asset management firms rather than European firms. We demonstrate that the US influence on the European investment fund industry has operated through the New York–London axis, with Luxembourg and Ireland functioning increasingly as its satellites.