Frankfurt-based asset manager First Private Investment Management has established a new multi-boutique network, FP Investment Partners. The aim is to provide institutional investors with efficient access to sought-after alternative asset classes, as well as to promote the potential of emerging investment teams that have a leading position in their segment.
FP Investment Partners will provide essential services in areas critical to success such as sales, marketing, fund launch and regulation, while investment partners will also benefit from cooperation in the areas of research, data sourcing and product development. The boutique partners are independent, specialised teams with a clear focus and strong convictions, and the platform currently offers access to quant investing, infrastructure and alternatives/hedge fund investments.
“The accelerating consolidation shifts the balance in favour of just a few large asset managers on the one hand. On the other hand, smaller, specialised players are in greater demand than ever before, but are often failing due to potential barriers to market entry or the necessary starting conditions,” says Tobias Klein, founding partner of the owner-managed holding company of FP Investment Partners.
FP Investment Partners sees itself as an incubator for young, independent investment teams, and thus creates a win-win situation.
“Investors gain easy access to specialised asset management products that offer outstanding opportunities for real added value. Our network partners, for their part, benefit from economies of scale as we take over marketing and sales services in a centralised manner, while the founding teams can concentrate fully on their core competence,” says Richard Zellmann, Managing Director of the newly founded FP Investment-Partners GmbH and partner in the holding company. “In future, it will be crucial for investors to be able to have access to successful niche players in order to survive in the highly competitive low interest rate environment.”
In addition, the investment boutiques can also access services from the Fund Services under German and Luxembourg law, Solutions and Consulting divisions as required. For example, FP Investment Partners provides support in the launch of liquid and illiquid investment funds and in the structuring of securities. The centrepiece and starting point is the expertise of a fully licensed, experienced German asset manager (including UCITS and AIFM platform), specialised in complex alternative investment strategies.
“With our network concept we are a pioneer on the German market. Unlike larger, existing platforms, FP Investment Partners is not a hierarchical organisation, but a network where partners cooperate strategically at eye level,” says Klein. “Since we are aiming for long-term cooperation and are convinced of the strategic added value of our partners, we also intend to participate in the partners’ business with our holding company, in the best case also through minority stakes in the partner boutiques”.
Although the managers may be new on the market, they are not start-ups in the classic sense. The founder and management teams already have successful track records in institutional asset management and are experts or pioneers in their field. The most recent affiliated partner, for instance, is hedge fund adviser Resonanz Capital which already has EUR2.7 billion of assets under management. And a long-standing partner is the well-established re:cap global investors ag, a specialist in renewable energy projects with an investment volume of EUR1.3 billion. BKN Capital in Luxembourg meanwhile, handles issues related to the structuring and launch of alternative investment funds and real assets. As a licensed AIFM-KVG, BKN is also responsible for the ongoing management of launched funds. Negotiations with other investment boutiques are also underway.
