At a conference in Zurich last week, this news service interviewed Stacey Feiner, US Ambassador to Luxembourg, and heard her thoughts about transatlantic opportunities, varying approaches to risk and business, and her passion for improving women's standing in the investment industry.

Luxembourg’s position as a “lily pad” from which US business can jump into the European market for the benefit of both sides was stressed by the US Ambassador to the Grand Duchy at a recent business conference.

Home to the European Union’s largest centre for cross-border UCITS and other investment funds, this market is one that American business must pay attention to, Stacey Feinberg (main picture) told Apex Invest Europe 2026, the private markets conference of Apex Group that brought together institutional investors, family offices and investment managers, last week in Zurich. (WealthBriefing was present to cover the event.)

She is keen to see the US and EU seize more opportunities. Luxembourg is the “best place” for businesses and investors seeking opportunities stemming from US trade with the EU, Feinberg, who is a businesswoman by background rather than a career diplomat, said. 

“We are loud and take a lot of risks and that’s something that you may not be comfortable with,” Feinberg said, reflecting on different attitudes towards business on either side of the Atlantic.

Feinberg reminded delegates at the Apex conference that EU private investors sit on considerable amounts of low-yielding cash.

Georges Archibald, CEO Apex Distribution, on stage with Ambassador Feinberg at the conference

In contrast with the US, as has been noted for some time, Europe has much unfilled potential in terms of putting liquid savings to work in stocks and private markets. For example, a 2025 report by Observatoire de L’Epargne Européenne, on behalf of the AFG, the Employee and Retirement Savings Commission, noted that European households’ direct holdings of stocks are in single digits, just 6 per cent of total financial assets in the eurozone. Overall, the average holding of stocks by households in the euro area is 21 per cent of financial assets. The total number of assets under management of investment funds domiciled in Luxembourg, including UCITS and alternative investment funds (AIFs), amounted to €9.07 trillion ($10.20 trillion), industry group ALFI said in July.

Luxembourg’s “American” qualities
Given such figures, Luxembourg is well placed to meet this type of challenge, Feinberg said. “Luxembourg is the most 'American’ country in the entire continent,” she said, referring to the jurisdiction’s willingness to adapt and capture business opportunities.

“The American spirit is about risk-taking, failing and then getting back up,” she continued.

The status of Luxembourg as a major fund hub has spawned debate about how proposed EU attempts to harmonise capital rules might lead to friction. This publication has covered the fund industry debates that have taken place about whether the bloc should take over the job of supervising financial markets from national authorities. At the heart of the matter is that in December 2025, the European Commission released the Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP) to deepen EU capital-market integration. The package targets barriers to cross-border activity; the EU wants to deepen and broaden capital markets to boost economic growth and savings. One reason for EU action is to encourage more citizens to put money into risk assets. (See our coverage from the ALFI industry summit here.)

A bridge
The small jurisdiction might not be the first place that springs to mind when considering the roster of most desirable diplomatic postings. However, Feinberg couldn’t be happier, and expanded on how she sees her role to WealthBriefing.

“I’m a matchmaker. I make connections and I am a bridge. I want FDI (foreign direct investment) to be flowing in both directions,” she said. “There are a lot of people willing to take risks and seeing deal-flow. It is good to get out of town,” she said, referring to the benefits of Americans examining opportunities in Europe and other parts of the world.

US businessmen and women need a helping hand to know how to secure European opportunities, she continued. “A lot of them don’t know how to get into Europe,” she said. 

The switch from financial and business life to the ambassadorial one is a challenge that Feinberg relishes. Feinberg started her career at Bob Woolf Associates, her father’s sports and entertainment law firm in Boston, Massachusetts. During that time, she grappled with managing contracts and careers of hundreds of clients, including legendary figures like Larry Bird, Larry King, Joe Montana, and New Kids on the Block. Feinberg founded the firm’s literary division. She’s a thought leader and teacher, having lectured at Harvard Law School; she was featured in Harvard’s “Getting to Yes” Negotiation Series. Additionally, she’s worked in the hedge fund sector, giving her an insight into the investment space. On the US State Department’s website, it notes that Feinberg says her proudest accomplishment is being the mother of four children.

WealthBriefing asked Feinberg about transatlantic differences in culture and economics, and how they can be addressed.

“The American spirit is about risk-taking, failing and getting back up…Education is important and understanding that resilience is the most important quality,” she said. Asked about different cultural attitudes towards enterprise in Europe, Feinberg said that what she can do is inspire by pointing to examples. “There are other ways in other places.”

This unashamed optimist, a “glass is half-full person,” told WB that she does not allow the noise of daily current affairs and controversies to interfere with her job. “I don’t let it get in my way. Business is business,” she said, reiterating her point that Luxembourg strikes her as being “the most American country in the entire continent.”

Feinberg is also keen to support women-led enterprises in Europe, a cause that she has already embraced in the US. “There are female entrepreneurs…I want them to meet each other. I want to help to facilitate that,” she said. 

Feinberg said low representation, in relative terms, of women in the venture capital sector, and as beneficiaries of VC funding, is an example of the kind of challenge that motivates her. 

According to Pitchbook in March 2024, women-founded startups accounted for 2 per cent or less of VC funding invested in Europe and the US in 2023.