Alantra is a European financial services firm with a team of over 500 professionals, based in 35 offices in 25 countries. Within the Alternative Asset Management division, it has $2.6 billion (€2.2 bn) AUM in different asset classes, $12.9 billion (€10.7bn) AUM in FoF and $2.8 billion (€2.3bn) AUM in Private Wealth.  In November 2020, the Alantra Global Technology Fund was launched.

Dr. Fiorangelo Salvatorelli is CIO/Founder of the Alantra Global Technology Fund. He has been an active technology investor for over 20 years, combining cross-disciplinary experience from consulting (Mckinsey & Co), long-only investing (Newton, Fidelity, CCLA), hedge fund management (Lansdowne, Kite Lake) and private equity (Fusion/Hermes) across multiple economic cycles and delivering a consistent investment performance track record.  Dr Fiorangelo is a strong believer in the multi-decade trends in the technology industry, as well as driving superior risk-adjusted returns for investors. He was a former university lecturer at the University of Oxford Department of Engineering Science and INSEAD, and holds a MA and DPhil in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford.

Kulbinder Garcha is Portfolio Manager / Partner of the Alantra Global Technology Fund. Kulbinder has been analysing the technology industry since the late 1990s and is recognised as a top-ranked equity research analyst, having held positions at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. Most recently, he was head of Global TMT investing at the Qatar Investment Authority, overseeing the strong performance and material growth of the sovereign wealth fund’s technology, media and telecoms exposure across asset classes. Over more than 20 years, he has advised on numerous transactions, including IPOs, private equity, M&A, as well as activist investing across the industry. Kulbinder is focused on fundamental industry and company level analysis and has developed proprietary, data-driven thematic investing strategies. He holds an MA in Mathematics/Economics from Cambridge University.

How does the global technology fund fit within Alantra’s ecosystem?

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Johan Söderström joined Sycomore Asset Management in May 2020 to co-manage the new Sustainable Technology fund.  Previously he had been at Swedbank Robur for almost 10 years where he managed a large global technology fund (value >$7 billion as of 30.9.20). Before joining Swedbank, he was an analyst at H Lunden Kapitalforvaltning and a PM and analyst following tech at Brummer’s Manticore fund.  He has a PhD in Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics (’02 – ‘07).

Founded in 2001, Sycomore Asset Management is known for its responsible investing expertise, managing $7.9 billion (>€6.7 bn) in AUM through open-end funds and separate managed accounts. It has a proprietary model of fundamental business analysis aiming to identify drivers of sustainable growth. The Sycomore Sustainable Technology fund was launched in September 2020.  The fund is managed by Johan Soderstrom and Gilles Sitbon alongside Sabrina Ritossa Fernandez, ESG specialist.

Where does Sycomore Asset Management sit within the Parisian investment management sector?

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Founded in 2016, Blue Whale Capital is a global equity specialist based in London and manages the LF Blue Whale Growth Fund, a global strategy unconstrained by geography. It selects 25 – 35 stocks at a time, which allows it to invest only in what its research and analysis identify as the best companies. The firm looks to buy companies that will benefit from structural growth trends, are able to significantly grow profits over time, yet also have attractive valuations. They have a long-term horizon and would like to buy a company and hold it forever but understand that sometimes the valuation becomes too expensive or the company’s prospects change.

Stephen Yiu is the co-founder of Blue Whale Capital. He is also Chief Investment Officer and Lead Manager of the LF Blue Whale Growth Fund. He was previously at Nevsky Capital (2014 – 2016) and before that at Artemis (2009 – 2013) and New Star (2007 – 2009). Before that he was a fund manager at Hargreaves Lansdown (2002-2007). Peter Hargreaves, is the Chairman and co-founder of Blue Whale Capital, as well as the co-founder and the largest shareholder of Hargreaves Lansdown, a $12 billion FTSE 100 financial services company.

Your performance since launch in September 2017, has been described as “phenomenal” – how do you explain this success?

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Founded in 1993, Brown Advisory, with AUM of $81 billion, is an independent investment management firm with offices in the US, London and Singapore. The firm manages assets for both private and institutional clients. The London office opened in 2008 and is where the portfolio managers of the Global Leaders strategy ($955 million) and the Global Leaders Sustainable UCITS Fund which was launched in November 2019, are based.

Bertie Thomson and Mick Dillon are the co-portfolio managers of the Global Leaders strategy.

Prior to joining Brown Advisory in October 2015, Bertie spent 13 years at Aberdeen Asset Management where he became a Senior Investment Manager in the Pan European equity team. Bertie graduated with a MA in Architectural History from the University of Edinburgh and is a CFA charterholder.

Mick joined Brown Advisory in 2014 from HSBC Global Asset Management in Hong Kong where he was the co-head of Asian equities. Previously, he managed a global equity long/short fund for HSBC in London and before that, was a global technology equity analyst at Arete Research. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Engineer (First Class Honours), a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Science. He is also a CFA charterholder.

How does the London office collaborate with the US office?

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Andy Nigg joined Bank J. Safra Sarasin in 2018 as head US & Global Sustainable Equities and is responsible for Sustainable US portfolios. Prior to this he was at Vontobel for 20 years in a variety of roles. He was senior portfolio manager and head of the Equity and Commodity Strategy within the Multi Asset Class department. Before that, he was responsible for the Global Equities Team. He managed Global and North American equity portfolios and funds. Prior to joining Vontobel, Andy worked as portfolio manager at UBS (’94 – ‘98) managing US and Canadian equity funds and portfolios. He started his career at the Retail Banking division of Hong Kong Bank of Canada in Calgary. Andy is a CFA Charterholder, holds a Swiss Banking School (now Swiss Finance Institute) degree and earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary, Canada.  Today, -his main focus is on US equities.

Safra Sarasin Group – Sustainable Swiss Private Banking since 1841

As an international group committed to sustainability, J. Safra Sarasin is well established through its banks in more than 25 locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. A global symbol of private banking and wealth management tradition, the group emphasizes security and well-managed conservative growth for its clients. At the end of December 2018, it managed total client assets of CHF 165 billion ($165 bilion) and employed about 2,200 staff, with stockholders equity of CHF 5.1 billion. Continue reading →

C WorldWide Asset Management (previously Carnegie Asset Management) was created in 1986 as part of the Carnegie Group. The firm was spun out of Carnegie Investment Bank in 2009 and the name changed in 2017. C WorldWide is 80% owned by private equity Altor Fund III and 20% by employees. Today it manages <$20 billion in global equities for institutional clients in the Nordic region, the UK, Canada and Australia. Main portfolios are highly concentrated with just 30 stocks held. The investment approach is bottom up stock-picking and they focus on stocks above $10 billion market cap and the average market cap is nearer $100 billion. The focus is on companies generating free cash flow and earnings growth. In addition to the concentrated global equity strategy, the firm has an ethical and long/short version of the same strategy plus a number of more specialised strategies, including Global Healthcare.

Bo Knudsen is Managing Director and Global Portfolio Manager at C WorldWide Asset Management in Copenhagen.  He holds a M.Sc. (Economics and Business Administration) degree from Aarhus School of Business and San Francisco State University.  Bo has worked with portfolio management of global equities since 1989. Prior to joining C WorldWide Asset Management in 1994 he worked for five years as a global portfolio manager with Danske Capital in Copenhagen and ultimately held the position as Head of International Equity Investments. From 1998 Bo joined Nordea Investment Management as Executive Director and Head of Equities. He re-joined C WorldWide Asset Management in 2001 as global portfolio manager.

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Aviva is the largest insurer and a leading life and pensions provider in the UK and Aviva Investors is its asset management business. The Edinburgh office was set up in 2018 with nine senior staff from Aberdeen Standard Investments. Aviva Investors manages around $444 billion. $50 billion in active equities. It has offices in 19 financial centers including Edinburgh, London, Paris, the US (Chicago) and Canada staffed by over 40 equity investment professionals.  Global equity strategies include: Income ($776 million – income and capital growth), Endurance (c.$1 billion – defensive capital growth) and launched in 2019, Unconstrained (opportunistic capital growth). AUM in global equities are currently $2.5 billion and this figure is expected to grow.

Mikhail Zverev joined Aviva Investors in October 2018 as Head of Global Equities. He was formerly Head of Global Equities at Standard Life Investments (SLI) and also portfolio manager on a number of funds. He joined SLI in 2007. After graduating from St Petersburg State Technical University with a BSc Physics, Mikhail started his career in 1998 with Trigon Capital, an Eastern European investment banking firm. He gained his MSc Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics and joined the investment banking division of Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in London in 2001, before moving to First State Investments as an Analyst, UK Equities in 2002.

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Ali Miremadi is an investment director, who runs global equity funds and a US-focused fund. Miremadi was one of the principal partners at THS Partners, (acquired by GAM in 2016). He joined THS Partners in 2007. Previously, Miremadi worked at Goldman Sachs. He started his career in 1994 at Baring Securities. Miremadi holds a first-class degree in English Literature from Wadham College, Oxford and is also a CFA charter holder.

GAM is an independent asset manager, providing active investment solutions and products for institutions, financial intermediaries and private investors.  GAM employs over 900 people in 14 countries. Headquartered in Zurich, it is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Group has assets under management of CHF163.8 bn ($165 bn) as at 30 June 2018. CHF84.4 bn ($88 bn) is managed actively in-house. Continue reading →