Vontobel launches new funds and expanded services

Vontobel Group, the Swiss-based financial services organisation, has recently announced the launch of two new venture capital funds as well as plans to expand its advisory and management services. The news follows the termination earlier this year of the firm’s advisory contracts with Private Equity Holding AG (PEH), a SFr 1.4bn global investment vehicle, and 5E Holding AG (5E), a SFr 170m fund-of-funds focused on Central Europe. Following the award of both contracts to Swiss Life Private Equity Partners, Vontobel was left with the management of its single remaining vehicle, Vontobel European Ventures, a fund-of-funds which held a first closing on Euro 99m earlier this year. As part of a rebuilding of its activities in the asset class, Vontobel is launching two new direct investment products targeting early-stage and later-stage investments. Vontobel Early-Stage Ventures will focus on opportunities in the European technology sector including the IT, media and telecommunications segments; it will not seek to support companies in the life science sector. Commenting on the focus of the new vehicle, Peter Stauffer says that the fund will not invest at seed stage, but will support start-ups which are already backed by other venture investors and have demonstrated clear proof of concept. Geographically, the fund will consider opportunities across Western Europe; deals in Central and Eastern Europe are not within the fund’s investment remit. As to the timing of the fund’s launch, Stauffer stresses that unlike many fund management teams, which are presently heavily involved in portfolio management, the group will be free to concentrate on new investment opportunities. The second fund, Vontobel Late Stage Ventures, is being marketed in parallel with its sister vehicle and will seek to take advantage of follow-on funding opportunities across all technology sectors, including life sciences. Both vehicles have received undisclosed cornerstone commitments from Bank Vontobel; external marketing is now set to target a wide range of institutions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and across Europe as a whole. Given the early stage of the fundraising process, few details have been finalised regarding the funds’ terms and conditions or likely final volume, although Stauffer believes that both vehicles will achieve a final close in line with present norms.

As an integral part of the group’s new strategy, plans to expand Vontobel’s advisory and management services have also been revealed. The firm envisages offering tailor-made private equity programmes to both institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. According to Stauffer, Vontobel aims to profit from the contacts and experience it gained through the management of PEH and 5E, and will fully leverage those relationships in order to create a flow of new business. As a further attraction, clients will receive access to Vontobel’s operational infrastructure in the Cayman Islands.

The Vontobel private equity investment team based in Zurich consists of Frank Brechlin, Serge Lauper, Reiner Pinot-Noack, Pietro Radicioni, Peter Stauffer and Ilenia Marinari. The team is headed by Beat Nägeli, a member of the executive board of Bank Vontobel AG. The team of Vontobel Private Equity Management Cayman is based in the Cayman Islands and offers specialised services such as investment monitoring, accounting and reporting, legal and tax due diligence as well as treasury management to both Vontobel and third party funds. The Vontobel team in the Cayman Islands is managed by Clive Munyard and includes Denise Bodden, Mary Falconer, Joel Haskins, Suahali Housholder, Beverly Lorimer, Bethany Powerly and Leroy Wall.

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