AIF Alternative Investment Fund, is a collective investment undertaking which raises capital from a number of investors with a view to investing it in alternative investment strategy which otherwise are restricted to, typically Real Estate, Private Equity, Hedge funds, Venture capital, Infrastructure, Loans etc.
AIFM Alternative Investment Fund Manager is a legal entity that manages one or more investment funds. “Management” includes, in general, investment management, administration, and marketing. In practice, many AIFM delegate some of these functions, but remain responsible for overseeing and supervising all delegated functions.
AIFMD Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive catches AIFM’s established in the EU which manage one or more AIF’s wherever the AIFs are located, and catches AIFMs established outside the EU which manage one or more AIF ‘s established in the EU or which market one or more (EU or non-EU) AIFs in the EU.
AML Anti Money Laundering refers to a set of procedures, laws and regulations designed to stop the practice of generating income through illegal actions.
CRS(not used) Common Reporting Standard developed by the OECD, is a global reporting standard for the automatic exchange of information allowing tax authorities to obtain a clearer understanding of financial asset held abroad by their residents, for tax purposes. CRS is similar to FATCA, but is more wide reaching covering many different countries.
CSSF Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (Financial Sector Supervisory Authority), Luxembourg’s financial industry regulator.
Distributor Entity that takes care of the sale of investment funds to investors through channels such as intermediaries including banks, brokers and independent financial advisers.
ETF(not used) Exchange Trade funds, investment funds that are listed on a stock exchange. Their most important characteristic is that they can be bought and sold at any time that the exchanges are open. The majority of ETFs aim to track the performance of a particular index.
FAIF(not used) Fund of Alternative Investment Fund.
FATCA (Used only at CRS definition level) Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a United states federal law requiring all non-US foreign financial institutions to record customers with   US person status and report the assets and identities of such person to the US Department of the Treasury. Such persons are also required to self-report their non-US financial assets to the Internal Revenue Service on a yearly basis.
FCP French abbreviation for Fonds Commun de Placement. The FCP is a co-ownership structure whose joint owners are only liable up to the amount they have contributed and whose rights are represented by units. A common fund has no legal personality and must be managed by a management company in accordance with applicable regulations.
Fund Administration The administrator is responsible for the administrative duties associated with an investment fund, such as the calculation of the net asset value (NAV), proper accounting and the recording of the issue and redemption of fund shares or units.
Fund registration In order to distribute a fund cross border, the fund needs to be registered in each of the different countries.
Independent directors Member of the Board or management body of a Luxembourg Company/Fund.
KIID Key Investor Information Document– the KIID (also abbreviated to KII or KID) is a concise overview of a UCITS fund’s main features, written in plain language and produced in a standard format on two A4 pages, introduced as of July 2011 as part of the UCITS IV legislation.
Management Company A company that organises, manages and administers an investment fund.
ManCo Abbreviation for Management Company.
MLRO Money Laundering Reporting Officer have an important role in ensuring that the company is compliant with anti-money laundering obligations.
NAV Net Asset Value, the total value of an investment fund’s assets, minus any liabilities such as expenses and other debts. The frequency of the NAV calculation depends on the nature of the fund and the provisions of the prospectus, and provides a basis for the price at which investors can buy (subscribe to) or sell (redeem) shares or units of a fund, subject to any fees and commission charges.
OEIC(not used) Open Ended Investment Company used in the UK, similar to the Luxembourg SICAV oder the Irish ICAV.
PRIIPS(not used) Acronym for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products. For each product the manufacturere needs to prepare and publish a short and consumer-friendly Key Information Document to help investors to better understand and compare the key features, risk, rewards and costs linked to the products.
RAIF Reserved Alternative Investment Fund, a vehicle that combines the characteristics and structuring flexibilities of Luxembourg regulated specialised investment funds (SIFs) and investment companies in risk capital (SICARs) qualifying as AIFs managed by an authorised AIFM, except that RAIFs are not subject to CSSF approval before they are launched.
Risk Management Process of monitoring all aspects of risk inherent in the management of a fund including but not limited to Market risk, Liqudity risk, Counterparty risk, Risk spreading rule implementation, Asset eligibility risk etc.
SCA Partnership limited by shares.
SCS Limited partnership.
SCSp Special limited partnership.
SICAR Investment company in risk capital.
SICAV Open ended Investment company with variable capital used in Luxembourg.
SIF Specialized Investment Fund.
Transfer Agency Transfer Agent A fund transfer agent performs both the transfer agent and registrar functions. Fund transfer agents maintain records of shareholder accounts, calculate and disburse dividends and prepare and mail shareholder account statements.
UCITS Acronym standing fo Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, the title of a series of directives introduced by the European Union (EU) beginning in 1985. Funds that meet the conditions laid down by the directives are known as UCITS funds and may be marketed throughout the EU.