PHOENIX PSF

Background

Phoenix PSF was incorporated on December 27, 2018 and has CSSF approval to operate as a Financial Sector Professional (PSF) in Luxembourg (CSSF – link).

Phoenix is duly licensed to act as registrar agent, administrative agent of the financial sector, company domiciliation agent, client communication agent, and as a professional providing company formation and management services.

Phoenix is an independent, employee-owned company. We specialise in the domiciliation of regulated and unregulated investment entities, family office structures, and provide a range of corporate secretarial and administrative services.

The managing directors of Phoenix have worked together since 2005.

Approach and Differentiators

Phoenix PSF prides itself on providing a service tailored to its clients’ requirements. We designate primary contacts with day-to-day involvement in the client entity and as a result develop a good understanding of the client’s entity in order to provide valuable insight and guidance throughout the lifecycle of the structure. A Phoenix PSF director will oversee the operation and support the client team, as well as identifying potential issues relating to changing and emerging legislation. Our teams are deadline focused, and will work to ensure that all timeframes are respected.

Feedback from our clients and from other service providers who we currently work with, indicate that the key areas which distinguish Phoenix from our competitors are:

The level of Director involvement that comes from an owner-managed firm
The passion and experience of the team and the dedication to our clients. We believe that flexibility to meet the needs of each client, including out-of-hours availability, rather than a one size fits all approach quickly establishes us as “your team” in Luxembourg
The smooth and coordinated package of our full service model (e.g. accounting, corporate secretarial and administration in one client team working closely with the Phoenix appointed director(s))
Working language of English, but with a number of other languages spoken by our staff.

Management Team of Phoenix PSF

Michelle Carvill Managing Director

Michelle has over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry in Luxembourg. She began her career in audit with KPMG, and has worked in such areas as accounting, financial reporting and compliance. Michelle was a managing director at Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. (formerly SHRM Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A.) from June 2005 until December 2017. In January 2018, following the merger of Gentoo with TMF Luxembourg S.A. she became Director Compliance with TMF. Well known in the Luxembourg corporate services industry with experience in providing corporate services to multi-national corporations, private equity houses and private individuals in Luxembourg she also has an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of regulatory compliance, AML/CTF and internal governance in the financial sector.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Studies from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. She is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ACIS) and a Member (Fellow) of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).

Alex van Zeeland Managing Director

Alex has been working in the financial services industry for over 24 years, of which 19 in Luxembourg. He began his career in audit with PwC in London, and has worked in such areas as tax, accounting, financial reporting, family office, fund administration and transfer agency. Alex was a managing director at Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. (formerly SHRM Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A.) from February 2002 until the merger with TMF Luxembourg S.A. in January 2018. Shortly after the merger, Alex moved on to set up his own company to provide directorship services. He is experienced in providing directorships and corporate services to multi-national corporations, real estate and private equity firms as well as private individuals. He has a thorough understanding of mergers and acquisitions and the regulatory authorisation application process in the financial sector.

Alex has a Masters in Economics from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. After university he joined PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in London, where he sat his ICAEW chartered accountancy exams. Alex is an associate member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

James Scanlon Director of Client Services

James has over 13 years of experience working in Luxembourg’s financial services industry. He started out in audit (Big 4) before moving into corporate and fund administration where he worked with a multinational corporate and trust service provider and a large fund administrator. His experience covers Real Estate and Private Equity structures, both regulated and unregulated. In 2012, he joined Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. (formerly SHRM Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A.) where he managed a large portfolio of clients. Following the merger of Gentoo with TMF, he worked for TMF Fund Services where he led the fund administration team and acted as a Director for client entities.

James holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland (FCA) and an Associate of the Irish Tax Institute.

Aikaterini Papayfanti Director of Fund Services

Aikaterini has over 12 years of experience working in Luxembourg’s financial services industry. She started her career in audit (Big 4) where she has been exposed to large multinational banking and financial institutions. In 2012, she joined Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. (formerly SHRM Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A.) where she has acted as a Client Relationship Manager and Head of Transfer Agency. Following the merger of Gentoo with TMF, she worked for TMF Fund Services where she led the Fund Administration team, acted as a Director for client entities and led major AML/CFT and Business Transformation Project Management initiatives. She has broad experience in the design and implementation of lean processes and culture change management

Aikaterini holds a Bachelor in Accounting and Finance from AUEB Athens, Greece as well as a Master of Science in Accounting, Control and Audit from IAE Nancy, France. She is a Member (Fellow) of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).

Celine Haeck Senior Client Relationship Manager

Celine started her career in August 2012 at Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. (formerly SHRM Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A.) and worked one year at TMF as a result of the merger of Gentoo with TMF Luxembourg S.A.

During these years, she gained experience in accounting, financial reporting, corporate services, tax and compliance for multi-national corporations, private equity houses and private individuals.

Celine has a Diploma in Accounting and Business and is currently a student member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

She speaks Luxembourgish, French, German and English, and has a basic understanding of Italian.

Ailbhe Jennings Independent Director

Ailbhe Jennings is an Irish national with over 33 years of professional experience in the Luxembourg financial services sector. She has held directorships in multiple companies and currently serves as Director on the Luxembourg-based, Bank of Montreal and Bombardier companies. Ailbhe joined the board of directors of Phoenix PSF in December 2018.

From 2002 to 2014, having set up Bain Capital’s office in Luxembourg, Ailbhe was on the boards of all of Bain Capital’s Luxembourg private equity SPVs where she gained extensive experience with Luxembourg Private Equity investment and Group Financing structures.

In addition to the above, from 2004 to 2017 Ailbhe was on the board of Element Six S.A, (formerly a De Beers’ subsidiary but latterly owned by Anglo American).

Before joining Bain Capital Luxembourg, BMO and Bombardier in 2002, Ailbhe was a deputy managing director and finance director at Banque Pictet, Luxembourg where she was also on the boards of all of Pictet’s Luxembourg investment funds. Prior to this she was a senior audit manager and a Luxembourg Réviseur d’Entreprises with KPMG Luxembourg.

Ailbhe has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (FCA, Ireland).