International Corporate Finance

INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE FINANCE EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTORS

Leaders League. What is the breakdown

of your clientele?

Serge Krancenblum. Currently, 45% of

our clients are illiquid investment fund

managers, the majority of which are Europe

and US-based; another 40% are multinational

companies from the US, Europe and Asia,

particularly India; the remaining 15%

are family offices or ultra-high-net-worth

individuals (UNHWI), mainly from Europe,

the Middle East and Asia.

Over the years, we have attracted an increasing

amount of prime institutional clients, with a

growing number of large private equity, real

estate and infrastructure players, as well as

debt and other traditional and alternative

investment structures. SGG Group is the only

Luxembourg player offering a vertically and

horizontally integrated range of fund services,

which explains our phenomenal growth in

this field in the recent years.

Leaders League. Is such an evolution

a response to the market or a strategic

choice of the Group?

S. K. Both! We want to remain firmly present

in every segment of the market - not as a

generalist, but as a specialized niche player, as

we continue to expand our offering for both

our existing and future clientele. Paradoxically,

while they insource a number of functions,

fund managers have an increasingly strong

need for outsourcing, including operational

support to management companies, fund

administration, registrar and transfer agency,

depositary and AIFM services, just to name

a few.

Leaders League. Why do fund managers

outsource?

S. K. Mainly due to the introduction of new

regulations, coupled with the fact that fund

teams prefer to dedicate their time to their

core business, rather than administrative

tasks and compliance work. On one hand,

more and more fund service providers

have the capacity to provide added-value

assistance in complex situations; on the other

hand, when entering into new territories,

fund managers are required to implement

essential procedures so as to comply with the

complex and cumbersome regulations of each

country (such as FACTA in the USA and CRS

in Europe). Outsourcing these kinds of tasks

has proven to be a very efficient solution.

Leaders League. How does SGG Group

differentiate itself from other (sometimes

larger) players in the market place?

S. K. The first thing that comes to mind is

the DNA of our Group. At SGG, our one and

only goal is to support our clients’ ambitions

by ensuring the perfect execution of non-

core tasks. SGG is led by entrepreneurs

and has very few layers of hierarchy; our

management team – which we call our

“leadership team” – is completely immersed

in operational work and client relationships.

I spend at least 25% of my time developing

client relationships, and this is the case for all

of our Group Management Board members.

At SGG, we don’t have managers, but rather

people who are experts in their professions

and stay by their clients’ side.

Another element that sets us apart is our

responsiveness - we invent new solutions

at the forefront of the market trends and

respond to the concrete and immediate

needs of our clients.

Last but not least, we have a special focus

across all market segments. For instance,

many of our competitors are reluctant to

service private clients, especially the highly

sophisticated ones, which are sometimes

as large as institutions; but still call for a

particularly personalized approach. Our

Family Office and UHNWI teams are

highly specialized and we are determined to

continue servicing this unique type of client.

Leaders League. From Singapore to the

UAE and then Belgium, SGG was quite

active in 2015 in terms of geographical

Across its global network of 21 offices and 23 remote offices across five continents, SGG

Group continues its strong growth momentum, while servicing illiquid asset fund

managers, corporate and private clients. Serge Krancenblum, CEO of the group, talks to

Leaders League about the market evolution, analyses SGG’s strengths and strategy, and

sheds light on the impact of the Brexit.

SERGE KRANCENBLUM

CEO, SGG GROUP

“Fund managers have an increasingly

strong need for outsourcing”

THE INCREASE

IN REGULATORY

DEVELOPMENTS IS ONE

OF THE MAIN DRIVERS

OF OUR ACTIVITY