In this article published in Le Temps’s 10 July edition, Jean Keller explains why private financing of infrastructure projects should grow in Switzerland, as has been the case in several other European countries.
QUAERO Capital has appointed Michaël Malquarti as Senior Portfolio Manager.
Malquarti, a specialist in multi-manager and alternative strategies, will manage the Long/Short European Equity fund and assist Cristofer Gelli in the management of asset allocation strategies. Prior to joining QUAERO Malquarti was Head of Manager Research & Alternative Investments at SYZ Asset Management.
Holder of a PhD in Cosmology from Sussex University and of a Master in Mathematical Physics from the University of Geneva, Michael Malquarti has held several positions in fund analysis and selection, multi-manager portfolio management and risk management.
Malquarti recently promoted his ideas in the media for the use by the Swiss National Bank of new tools in monetary policies and is currently preparing the publication of a book on the reform of the monetary system.
Read the media release
In this column published in Geneva newspaper Le Temps, Jean Keller explains why Swiss asset management players must collaborate more.
QUAERO Capital has appointed Francesco Samson as its Group Chief Operating Officer, as of April 1st (subject to Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA’s approval). Samson joins from Brevan Howard in Switzerland, where he was Head and Chief Operating Officer of the Geneva office and a member of the Executive committee of Brevan Howard Investment Products Limited in Jersey. He has considerable experience in the asset management business, built up over more than 20 years. Prior to his last post, he spent 10 years at Nyon-based EIM SA, where he was Partner, Group Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Committee. He also led M&A activity for the Swiss firm, built its managed account platform and oversaw business development and corporate communications.
Previously, Samson worked at Citigroup’s EMEA Private Bank, where he led the growth strategy for the region, building and leading two front office teams. He started his career in the chemical industry prior to joining McKinsey Switzerland where he focused on finance, telecom and transportation corporates. Fluent in Italian, French, English and German, Samson has an MSc from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (“EPFL”) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and an MBA from INSEAD.
Jean Keller, CEO of Quaero Capital said: “We are delighted to welcome Francesco to our team. His experience and energy will strengthen our structure and help us plan for the growth of our business. Over the past 3 years we have experienced healthy growth in our assets under management and we are convinced that the arrival of Francesco will help us execute our ambitious business plan.”
Francesco Samson said: “I am excited at the opportunity that joining Quaero Capital presents. With growing international reach, an interesting product range and solid growth already under way, I look forward to helping develop a dynamic business that is truly focused on client requirements.”
QUAERO Capital has appointed Serge Ledermann as a member of its Board of directors. Backed with more than 35 years’ experience in the financial industry – in investment research, asset management and commercial activities – Serge Ledermann is a well-known public figure both in Switzerland and abroad.
Working as an independent advisor and an independent director for family offices, pension funds, foundations and asset managers Serge Ledermann has held several managerial positions in asset management. In particular, he was a member of the Executive Committee and Head of Asset Management at J. Safra Sarasin, as well as Deputy CEO and Head of Investment of Retraites Populaires in Lausanne. Prior to that, he was Partner at Lombard Odier and Union Bancaire Privée Gestion Institutionnelle.
Serge Ledermann is a graduate of the HEC School of the University of Lausanne and of the International School for Banking Studies of Geneva. He followed several management and graduate trainings at IMD and ACAD in Switzerland. He chaired the Swiss Association of Financial Analysts and Asset Managers (SFAA) from 1997 to 2001.
He is often quoted on the Swiss media for his expert opinion on the markets or the trends in the financial services industry. He sits on various boards of directors, such as Schroder Investment Management (Switzerland) and the Swiss Triathlon Federation.
Cristofer Gelli, Chairman of QUAERO Capital said “We are delighted to have a leading figure such as Serge Ledermann join our Board of directors. His breadth of experience and extended international contact network in the financial world will be very useful assets to pursue our expansion and successfully face the challenges facing the Swiss asset management sector”.
Serge Ledermann added “I am excited to join QUAERO Capital’s Board. Indeed, besides plain-vanilla products produced by the asset management giants, there is a strong need for a specialist boutique such as QUAERO, whose very distinctive strategies and conviction-driven investment style have delivered superior results.”
QUAERO Capital has appointed Amancio Perez ‘Head of Iberian Business Development’ to enhance its presence in Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well in the LatAm markets.
Amancio Perez has twenty years of experience in B2B financial industry – as a sales person for Iberia & LatAm markets in institutional, fund distribution, private banking and services to external asset managers – which brings together all aspects of the sector including retail, private banking, independent asset managers, financial advisors, family offices, funds of funds, pension funds, central banks and sovereign funds. Until recently, he worked as a senior sales manager at Pictet & Cie where he was responsible for developing private banking commercial activity in the Brazilian market with Single/Multi Family Offices, independent/external asset managers, financial advisors and banks.
With more than 20 years in the fund distribution business with Iberia and LatAm, he has always developed new markets from scratch with all the business development steps and all the segments, from retail market to sovereign mandates of the lead the opening of the Pictet Asset Management office in Madrid, from 2003 to 2013. He started his career in 1992 with Pictet in Geneva – his move to QUAERO aims to build on this success.
Jean Keller, CEO of QUAERO Capital, said “I am thrilled to be working with Amancio Perez – a highly skilled senior professional. He has an enormous amount of experience working in Spain as well as Latin America – I can think of no-one better to take QUAERO forward in Iberia.”
Amancio Perez said, “I am honoured to be part of QUAERO Capital, a fast-growing asset manager targeting growth in new markets. There are not many players with the current environment available to invest on business development like QUAERO. The Sicav has been registered in Spain and will soon extend to the Portuguese market, expecting to be added to the leading platforms. I’m also looking for a representative to cover the LatAm markets, a challenging region.”
QUAERO Capital SA was named “Best Group over 3 years” in the “Equity- Small Company” category of the 2017 Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards Switzerland.
Awarded during an exclusive ceremony on 31 January 2017 in Zurich, this prestigious prize rewards the good overall performance achieved over the last 3 years by QUAERO’s investment funds..
The overall performance was represented by the weighted average decile ranking of its respective asset class results. Large and small fund groups are distinguished separately.
« As an independent asset management boutique, we are particularly proud of this award, which recognizes the results achieved not by one fund in particular but by all our strategies overall. Our first place in this ranking carried out by one of the world specialists in fund analysis is all the more gratifying as the level of asset management expertise is particularly high in Switzerland. It represents a recognition of our investment style, which brings together independently minded investment managers, who rely on original research to provide high-conviction, actively-managed strategies. » said Jean Keller, CEO of QUAERO Capital SA.
QUAERO Capital was ranked No. 1 in the « Best development in France » category of the 2017 EMD Fund Awards.
This prize was awarded on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the « Emerging Manager Day », an event for investment professionals held by French asset manager NewAlpha Asset Management.
QUAERO Capital won the vote of the jury, which comprised 12 leading figures of the financial industry, as well at the vote of the participants.
« We are very proud of this recognition from our peers, which rewards our long-lasting commitment in France. The French market is of special importance to us, not only from a business development perspective, but also as a centre of excellence for our infrastructure strategy. » said Jean Keller, CEO of QUAERO Capital.
Our “Mister Alpha is back!” conference welcomed 150 investment professionals on 7 December 2016 in Paris, at the Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale.
