Harcourt Investment Consulting AG, the Switzerland-based alternative investment solutions provider, has seen its assets under management (AuM) increase from USD4.9bn in the first half of 2011from USD4.8bn as at the end of December 2010.
Harcourt believes the increase, in what continues to be a challenging environment, reflects the growing investor appetite for alternative investments.
During the first half of 2011, Harcourt saw positive inflows into its flagship products, Belvista Commodity and VONDA UCITS. Increases in assets under management were also reported for Harcourt’s Belmont Commodity Trading Fund. Most of the new assets were acquired from institutional clients.
The favourable increase in volume of client assets, however was countered by the adverse market conditions during the time period.
Stephan Fritz (pictured), CEO of Harcourt, says: “Harcourt achieved a solid result during what was a very difficult first six months of 2011. The new inflows reflect the growing investor appetite for alternative investments. The worldwide uncertainty driven largely by the debt crisis will continue throughout the second half of the year and challenge the whole financial industry. In such difficult markets, the advantages of alternative investments especially come to light. As a leading provider of alternative investment solutions, we believe that Harcourt is well positioned to benefit from the increasing demand for performance creating investment solutions.”
