Two important Swiss asset managers are teaming up with the management and distribution of an fixed-income fund. An unusual agreement that may yet be the start of a new trend.
The two partners are as different as they come. One of them, UBP of Geneva, a global private bank and hedge fund pioneer. The other, Partners Group based in Zug (pictured below), an asset manager focussing on the private market and most successful at that – on a global scale.
And they are divided by the language barrier between French-speaking Western and German-speaking Eastern Switzerland.
Separate and Still in Coordination
Together, the two will manage and sell the UBP PG Active Income Fund, each with an own team and distribution network – and with the own expertise as back-up.
The two partners will each focus on what they know best with the fixed-income fund, Nicolas Faller, co-head of UBP Asset Management, told finews.ch. UBP manages 14.5 billion francs in bonds, and Partners Group has 9 billion francs in private debt assets under management.
Better Off Together
The two companies each are putting in half of the initial investment. They will coordinate their activities once a week in a committee meeting. UBP owns the fund's shell. The fund is open for institutional and qualified private investors only. The partners want to generate 100 million francs for the fund by the end of 2017. In the long run, the fund is intended to manage several hundred million francs.
The agreement between UBP and Partners Group is a novelty for the Swiss asset management industry, according to Faller. It may yet develop into a trend as the companies have to start offering increasingly more to satisfy their customers' expectations. «We believe that those expectations are best met together.»
