Connecticut-based alternative asset manager Fairfield Greenwich Group has agreed to merge with Banque Bénédict Hentsch, a Geneva-based Swiss privat
Connecticut-based alternative asset manager Fairfield Greenwich Group has agreed to merge with Banque Bénédict Hentsch, a Geneva-based Swiss private bank founded four years ago by a scion of a family with deep roots in the country’s wealth management industry.
The merger will provide the bank’s clients with access to Fairfield Greenwich’s platform of single manager hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, real estate funds and customised hedge fund portfolios, while Fairfield Greenwich clients will be able to draw on Banque Bénédict Hentsch’s wealth management services.
Together, the companies have more than USD18bn in assets under management and will bring together the alternative asset product development and investment management capabilities of Fairfield Greenwich with the private banking distribution of Banque Bénédict Hentsch, which has had an alternative asset focus since its launch in 2004.
The partners say their immediate objective will be to win increasing numbers of private clients for the combined product set, and to accelerate the growth of the private bank through the addition of sales and marketing resources and personnel.
“Bénédict Hentsch and his team have an extraordinary reputation within the Swiss private banking industry, and we will work together to deliver elite, complementary alternative and wealth management solutions to our combined client bases,” says Fairfield Greenwich founding partner Andres Piedrahita.
“For seven generations, the Hentsch name has stood for quality, privacy, and personal service in Swiss private banking. For over 25 years, Fairfield Greenwich has meant transparency and trust in alternative asset management. We believe that our corporate cultures truly support each other, and that our respective traditions will successfully combine to create an even more expert organisation fully dedicated to global wealth management.”
Walter Noel, another founding partner, says: “Since the launch of our firm, we have worked closely with top Swiss private banks. As Fairfield Greenwich has grown, and as the hedge fund industry has matured, we have evolved toward a more comprehensive view of alternative investments, asset management, and banking as interrelated disciplines.
“Recently, we have added key senior professionals from the world of banking and wealth management to help lead our lines of business. We believe our partnership with a firm of outstanding quality brings us directly into the vanguard of global alternatives managers who are finding new and interlocking opportunities through expansion and business development across multiple financial industry sectors.”
The eponymous bank’s founder and chairman Bénédict Hentsch says: “Fairfield Greenwich and Banque Bénédict Hentsch share a basic philosophy and approach of capital preservation as well as a deep commitment to client service. We are very confident that many powerful synergies exist and that the clients and investors of both groups will greatly benefit.
“Our combined companies will be able to offer both institutional and private investors a wide spectrum of integrated tailored products and services from hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, customised portfolios and structured products, to estate planning, foreign exchange, securities brokerage, tax, legal, and other wealth management and private banking services.”
The combined group with have more than 150 employees in North America (Greenwich, New York, Miami and Bermuda), South America (Rio de Janeiro), Europe (London and Madrid), Switzerland (Geneva and Lugano) and Asia (Singapore and Beijing).
The bank, whose name will become Banque Bénédict Hentsch Fairfield Partners, will remain subject to the direct oversight of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission and will be under the consolidated financial supervision of the UK’s Financial Services Authority.
Bénédict Hentsch and Robert Pennone will become directors of Fairfield Greenwich, while Charles Murphy and Mark McKeefry will join the board of Banque Bénédict Hentsch Fairfield Partners.
Founded in 1983, Fairfield Greenwich Group offers a variety of single manager hedge funds, funds of funds, customised portfolios, structured products, real estate/private equity and other investment vehicles. It has more than 125 employees, 21 of whom are shareholders.
Founded in Geneva in 2004, Banque Bénédict Hentsch & Cie provides clients including individuals, families, institutions and external managers with bespoke investment strategies. Its investment philosophy is based on an open platform and the bank says it is constantly on the lookout for new investment opportunities in areas such as commodities, precious metals, energy resources and the emerging economies.
