EFAMA event brought together over 20 leading asset management firms to discuss ELTIF 2.0 implementation
Last week, EFAMA hosted around 40 ELTIF managers, policymakers from the European Commission and CSSF and other industry stakeholders – for its first dedicated industry-led conference on the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF). The event provided a unique opportunity to assess the implementation of the ELTIF 2.0 reforms, including product design, distribution and national adoption and incentives.
Participants generally stressed that the ELTIF reform was an important step forward in mobilising long-term capital for European companies and projects. However, they also agreed that further action is needed to build a truly competitive ELTIF ecosystem. Greater alignment of national frameworks and initiatives to facilitate distribution would be greatly beneficial. Protectionist barriers that ultimately harm end-investors should be eliminated. Enhancing retail investor education and using tax incentives more widely would increase uptake. Equivalence frameworks and education on ELTIF in non-EU countries would also help to boost product recognition and growth globally.
Almost half of the participants expect there to be between 250 and 400 active ELTIFs by 2027, with nearly 70% predicting strong asset growth of 50-100% over that period, according to an informal survey run by Scope Group during the event.[1] Private debt and infrastructure were flagged as likely to receive the most new capital in ELTIFs this year, and online platforms were identified as the most important distribution channel.
Tanguy van de Werve, Director General at EFAMA, said: “We were very pleased to have so many asset managers join us for the first EFAMA ELTIF Forum, held in Luxembourg. The discussions led to clear calls to action for policymakers and our industry, and identified concrete ways to further grow the ELTIF market in Europe. ELTIF has grown a lot in recent years and still has plenty of potential to further democratize private assets and boost investment in the real economy. In this way, it really ties into the goals of the Savings and Investment Union.”
Stefan Staedter, Partner at Arendt & Medernach, said: “ELTIF 2.0 has clearly helped to remove some challenges on the asset side, almost every asset manager is looking into the product features. It is now up to the stakeholders, including the national competent authorities, to apply the framework in a pragmatic way in order to ensure that ELTIFs accommodate a broad range of investment strategies and liquidity models and to further transform ELTIFs into a European - and even global - mainstream quality product.”
Silke Bernard, Partner at Linklaters, said: “The revisions to the ELTIF framework have been an absolute game changer, which finally opened up the European market for retail money to finance the real economy. The impressive increase in ELTIF launches is a testament to the market appetite for long-term retail products. Two key challenges for maintaining the ELTIF trajectory at its current pace are to avoid creating national barriers to a pan-European ELTIF success story and to enable distribution models that create real scale.”
Martin Parkes, Chair of EFAMA’s Fund Regulation Standing Committee and Co-Head of EU Public Policy at BlackRock, said: “A deliberate national strategy to encourage investment into private assets through ELTIFs will drive their long-term growth and success. The inclusion of ELTIFs as eligible investments for national savings accounts and pension funds can also help ensure private assets form a natural part of savers’ long-term investment planning.”
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Notes to Editors
Find out more about the EFAMA ELTIF Forum here.
Read about EFAMA’s work on ELTIFs here.
For further information, please contact:
Hayley McEwen
Head of communications and membership development
[1] Source: Scope Fund Analysis; 31 responses on 02 Oct 2025.
