Tages Capital was founded in 2011 and has offices in London, Rome and Milan. Key executives at the firm include: Panfilo Tarantelli, Founding Partner; Jamie Kermisch, Partner and CEO; Salvatore Cordaro, Founding Partner and CIO; Sergio Ascolani, Founding Partner, and Umberto Quadrino, Partner and Chairman.
Since inception, the Group has grown to oversee USD9.6 billion of assets (as at end of 2016) with 140 staff. With approximately USD2.2 billion in alternative assets under management, over USD625 million has been deployed into seeding vehicles and opportunities.
Over the years, Tages has continuously evolved its business model launching many new funds and initiatives. In 2013, the firm raised USD200 million for Tages Emerging Opportunities, a vehicle dedicated to seeding and providing acceleration capital to emerging managers. Also that year, it launched the USD200 million Tages Frontier Fund, a unique fund of Frontier Market hedge funds.
In 2015, the firm established an infrastructure investment business with the first fund focused on the solar sector raising up to EUR300 million. The Tages Helios Fund (photovoltaic infrastructure fund) is now the 3rd largest operator of Italian photovoltaic plants.
Tages Capital's innovation in hedge fund investing includes new growth in the liquid alternatives/UCITS space. Last year, Tages began to launch UCITS absolute return single manager funds on the Tages International SICAV fund platform domiciled in Luxembourg.
Currently, the Tages UCITS Alternatives funds range includes:
• Tages Fore UCITS Fund (Global credit long/short);
• Anavon Global Equity Long/Short UCITS Fund (Global equity long/short);
• Tages Cygnus Europa Event Driven UCITS Fund* (European event driven);
• Tages Rotella UCITS Fund* (Systematic CTA);
• Tages Atreaus Macro UCITS Fund* (Global Macro).
In 2016 Tages Capital also launched Tages Alternative Risk Premia Fund in an AIF structure domiciled in Ireland.
In total, Tages Capital supports institutional investors across four key business areas: bespoke solutions (often driving seeding and acceleration of hedge funds); infrastructure investments; distressed credit (non-performing loans), and UCITS liquid alternative funds.
Discussing its hedge fund seeding model, Jamie Kermisch (pictured), CEO, says that Tages focuses mainly on emerging managers "where we see the most alignment for our investors. As part of our investment decisions, we often come across excellent new managers who are eager for seed or acceleration capital (a locked up multi-year capital commitment in return for some interest in the broader business, typically a revenue share).
"However, the journey starts with us firstly deciding if a manager is truly differentiated and world class. Only after taking a close look at the manager and their investment strategy, would seeding become an option to be discussed."
In Kermisch's view, experience, resources, judgement and high integrity are all critical aspects of running a successful seeding platform.
"Our investment and management team have decades of experience investing in hedge fund managers and alternatives. We can bring that to bear in terms of sourcing and identifying world-class talent, negotiating excellent outcomes for our investors, and ensuring we protect all areas of downside where possible. One key element is our flexibility and desire to listen to the manager's concerns and ambitions. This makes Tages an attractive partner," remarks Kermisch. n
*New fund launches proposed in the first half of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.
