The activities conducted by alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) are defined in the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG; Alternative Investmentfonds Manager-Gesetz). The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (Directive 2011/61/EU or “AIFMD”) is the legal basis for AIFs. This directive allows investment funds within the European Union to be split into one of two categories, namely:
- Undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), or
- Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)
The majority of alternative investment fund managers manage not only alternative investment funds, but also manage undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities. In addition, there are also “out and out” alternative investment fund managers, that exclusively manage alternative investment funds and not undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities.
Licensed or registered AIFMs
The management of a AIFs as a rule require a licence to be held as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager. Where they hold the necessary licence, they are also permitted to provide investment services pursuant to Article 3 para. 2 nos. 1 to 3 of the Securities Supervision Act 2018 (WAG 2018; Wertpapieraufsichtsgesetz 2018). In this instance, the provisions of the Securities Supervision Act 2018 stated in Article 4 para. 6 of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG) also apply for such entities.
However, in the event that the assets under management do not exceed certain thresholds, only a registration, rather than a licence is required. In this case, it must be ensured that registered alternative investment fund managers do not distribute any alternative investment funds to retail clients, and are not permitted to conduct any cross-border distribution and any cross-border management.
Further information:
Legal
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG; Alternative Investfonds Manager-Gesetz) (Format: pdf, Size: 613,7 KB, Language: English)Investment Fund Act 2011 (InvFG 2011; Investmentfondsgesetz 2011)Banking Act (BWG; Bankwesengesetz) (Format: pdf, Size: 2,7 MB, Language: English)Real Estate Investment Funds Act (ImmoInvFG; Immobilien-Investmentfondsgesetz)Securities Supervision Act 2018 (WAG 2018; Wertpapieraufsichtsgesetz 2018) (Format: pdf, Size: 1,2 MB, Language: English)
Information
FAQs on the application of the AIFMG (in German only):
FAQ zur Anwendung des AIFMG (Format: pdf, Size: 369,1 KB, Language: German)List of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) concluded with third countries in relation to Alternative Investment Funds:
Liste der MoU (Format: pdf, Size: 129,4 KB, Language: German)Publication pursuant to Article 5 (1) of the CBDF Regulation:
Publication of national provisions concerning marketing requirements pursuant to Article 5 (1) Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 (CBDF Regulation) (Format: pdf, Size: 245,6 KB, Language: English)