Rajaa Mekouar, Calista Direct Investors

Rajaa Mekouar Rajaa is a PE investor and financial entrepreneur with 25 years of experience across private markets globally. She worked as a GP in different funds focused on the mid markets and as an LP with family offices in UK and across Europe. She is the founder and CEO of Calista Direct Investors, an independent buyside advisory and co-investment platform dedicated to sourcing and selecting investments for private investors (www.calistadirectinvestors.eu). Rajaa sits on several PE-related family-owned boards in Luxembourg where she moved in 2016, after 15 years in London. She was awarded “Inspirational Woman in Finance” in 2020 and led the Luxembourg Private Equity Association (LPEA), between 2018 and 2020. There, she launched the PE4W platform to promote Women in PE and the LPEA Insights conference series. Rajaa also supports young artists and musicians and participates in local charity projects. Rajaa was born and raised in Morocco, studied in France and spent most of her career in the UK. She speaks 6 languages and is a graduate of HEC Paris (Grande Ecole) and INSEAD (MBA). Rajaa holds three nationalities: Moroccan, Luxembourgish and British.

Agenda

Day 1 - Tuesday 22 November
09.50

GP perspectives: translating trends into investment strategies and returns

Creating new products, adapting portfolios, adjusting financing: how GPs anticipate market developments, interest rates, inflation, FX variations, regulatory changes and more
11.05

Family offices as private assets investors

Private family capital is larger than private equity and venture capital combined. The increasing concentration of wealth held by very wealthy families is fueling the growth of family offices around the globe. Luxembourg hosts over 100 family offices and is an attractive jurisdiction for more to come. Designed to preserve wealth for future generations, family offices offer a high degree of independence with regards to investment choices and have become a mainstream investor into private assets over the last years. Next to the returns offered by private assets, it is also the entrepreneurial DNA of family offices that attracts them to private assets and often asks for an active role to play as shareholders. What do family offices mean to Luxembourg and the private assets market? We will discuss opportunities, challenges and perspectives.
11.30

LP onboarding: what to expect and how to accommodate

  • Views of an asset manager raising capital through a Lux fund: LP due diligence, latest trends in investor focus (ESG and diversity, liquidity management, expenses and fees transparency, credit facilities, continuation funds, cybersecurity and data protection, staffing at GP/manager level);
  • Views of a service provider: (remote) solutions for AML, challenges and opportunities for smooth LP onboarding;
  • Status quo and legal framework around digitalisation of sub docs/e-signatures, onboarding platforms and bespoke LP needs: Luxembourg tools for bespoke co-investment, feeders, parallel funds, reporting etc. as well as the impact of retailisation on investor due diligence and onboarding (KYC)
14.05

What to expect when structuring your NAV facility

Session kindly facilitated and sponsored by Allen & Overy

Financing products come in different shapes and forms throughout the lifecycle of a fund. Net asset value (NAV) facilities permit the raising of new financing backed by a fund’s portfolio of assets, in support of, among others, liquidity management, follow-on investments and beyond. The structuring options are numerous and NAV facilities can be found across asset classes and investment strategies. This panel will discuss the product landscape of NAV facilities, features across asset classes and key concepts.

 
15.50

Luxembourg for private assets: The data to back it up
16.10

Digital platforms for private markets investment - disruption or sustainable innovation?

Digital investment platforms are disrupting private markets, offering an alternative for institutional and individual investors seeking exposure to private equity, including venture capital and private debt, as well as real assets. What are the technologies behind this facilitated access to private asset investments? Discover some of the well-established platforms and some of the new kids on block, learn about their operating models and what led to their success, the role of partnerships with renowned fund managers, and the next development phases and ambitions for the coming years.
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