A SICAV is an open-ended investment company domiciled in Luxembourg. SICAV is an acronym for “Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable”.

Being an open-ended company a SICAV must have a board of directors and shareholders. It operates in the same way as a UK OEIC, in that investors subscribe for shares which are valued regularly (usually daily).

It is quite common for SICAVs to be set up as umbrella companies with different sub-funds each with different investment objectives. These funds can also have a number of different share classes aimed at specific investors, typically there will be:

• A retail class – low initial investment which requires payment of an initial charge by the investor.
• An institutional class – high initial investment threshold, but a low management charge reflecting the requirement for less administrative work.