AI International Fund Awards 2017 by AI Global Media

0 INTERNATIONAL FUND 1A W A R D S 7

Tailored Investments SilverArrow Capital Group is a private investment firm group specialising in providing qualified investors with selected exposure to real estate through a focused range of investments tailored to their requirements. CEO and Founder Thomas Limberger talks us through the group and how it works to provide the strongest possible returns to its investors.

GROUPE CAISSE DES DĂ&#x2030;PĂ&#x201D;TS

Wavelength Capital Management

Welcome to the 2017 International Fund Awards Whilst the global financial trade continues to develop and expand across all sectors, the worldwide funds industry has established itself as the home to some of the most pioneering and advanced firms and individuals in the business domain. Innovation, determination and commitment are respected in the 2017 International Fund Awards, as we pursue the finest that the industry has to offer. These awards aim to showcase not only the funds that, in spite of the often unpredictable climate in which they function, have succeeded in accomplishing extraordinary results but also the advisors, wealth managements specialists and managers whose knowledge and practice has made them the first port of call for savvy investors.

Contents 4. SilverArrow Capital Group / Best Industrial Growth Private Investment Firm - UK 6. Angus Moore Wealth Management Limited / Best Investment Advisory Firm – Hong Kong 7. Bhatt Innovation Capital LLC / Best New Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund: Bhatt Innovation Capital 8. BTZ Navigation LLC / Best Shipping-Focused VC Fund: BTZ Navigation I LP 9. CNX Coal Resources LP / Best Fossil Fuel Fund (YTD): CNXC & Mining Industry CFO of the Year 2017 - USA 10. Greenwich Investment Management, Inc. / Best Investment Advisory Firm - Connecticut 11. Gunn Agri Partners / Best Australian Agriculture Fund: Gunn Agri Cattle Fund 12. HedgEmerge / Best Multi-Strategy Fund (5 Years): HedgEmerge & Best Multi Strategy Manager - UK 13. Pacific Fund Systems Limited / Best Fund Administration Software Vendor 2017 15. Keills / Best Independent Property Fund Manager - UK 16. Lawson Conner / Best International Multi-Asset Manager Platform 17. Moore Management / Best Alternative Fund Administrator – Channel Islands 18. Runestone Capital / Most Innovative Hedge Fund: Runestone Capital Fund 19. Third Friday Management / Best Market Neutral Hedge Fund (Since Inception): Third Friday Total Return Fund L.P & Best Investment Advisory Firm 2017 - Florida 20. Wavelength Capital Management / Best Quantitative Fixed Income Fund (1 Year): Wavelength Interest Rate Neutral Fund & Investment Management Firm of the Year - New York 22. AMPERE Gestion / Best French Real Estate Fund (1 Year): FLI & Best Real Estate Fund Manager - France 22. Augentius Group / Best PE Fund Administration Firm - UK 23. Bassett & Byers P.A. / Best Corporate Tax Compliance Firm - North Carolina 23. County Cork LLC. / Best New Managed Futures Long/Short Program: Acclivity Program & CTA of the Year 2017 - Midwest USA 24. InnoVen Capital / Best Venture Lending Firm 2017 - Asia 24. JMH Asset Management Ltd / Best FoHF Strategy (3 Years): JMH Absolute Return SICAV SIF 25. Mediterra Capital / Best Mid- Market PE Firm - Turkey 25. Mirova / Best European Diversified Bond Fund (Since Inception): Mirova Euro Sustainable Aggregate Fund 26. PC Capital / Growth Equity Fund Manager of the Year - Mexico 26. Prime Meridian Capital Management / Best Peer-to-Peer Lending Fund (Since Inception): Prime Meridian Income Fund & Best Investment Management Firm 2017 - Western USA 27. S.E.A. Asset Management Pte Ltd / Best Fund Management Boutique - South East Asia 27. SFPI-FPIM / Best State Development PE Portfolio: Federal Holding & Investment Company 28. Shavit Capital / Best Late Stage Investment Firm - Israel 28. TPT Retirement Solutions / Best DB Pension Provider 2017 – UK 29. UB Real Asset Management Ltd / Best Emerging Market REIT Equity Fund (3 Years): UB REIT Asia Plus & Best Investment Manager 2017 - Finland 29. Wolverine Asset Management / Best US Focused Relative Value Hedge Fund: #Wolverine Flagship Fund & Best International Alternative Asset Manager 2017 - Illinois

IF17007

Best Industrial Growth Private Investment Firm - UK Company: SilverArrow Capital Group Name: Thomas Limberger, CEO & Founder Email: limberger@ silverarrowcapital.com Web: www.silverarrowcapital.com Address: 3 More London Riverside, SE1 2RE London, UK Telephone: +44 2036372185 Group Asset Manager: Prime Capital Management Name: Robert Schimanko, CEO Asset Management Email: schimanko@ silverarrowcapital.com Address: Zugerstrasse 76 B, 6340 Baar, Switzerland Telephone: +41 417576606

SilverArrow Capital Group SilverArrow Capital Group is a private investment firm group specialising in providing qualified investors with selected exposure to real estate through a focused range of investments tailored to their requirements. CEO and Founder Thomas Limberger talks us through the group and how it works to provide the strongest possible returns to its investors. Established in 2010, SilverArrow Capital is a group of private investment firms focusing on industrial growth sectors, real estate and infrastructure projects supported by a leading global advisory and operations team. The firm operates offices in some of the world’s leading financial hubs including London, Munich, Dubai and Zug, Switzerland. The company is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and its Asset Management company, Prime Capital Management operates out of Switzerland, taking care of the various funds under management. Thomas discusses the firm’s investment strategy and how it aims to provide true value to its investors, who are based around the world and include both institutions and high value private clients. “Here at SilverArrow Capital we bring value to our private investors and partners by executing a proven activist investment strategy in industrial growth companies as well as managing investment funds. We provide qualified investors selected exposure to global equities, selected industrial projects and real estate through a focused range of investments tailored to their requirements. “Our investment and operation professionals are deeply committed to our partners and clients by applying our tremendous in-house expertise in complex financial strategies, as well as leveraging our truly global industry knowledge. The result of this knowledge pool is our specialized advisory group giving high-quality industrial and financial advice to our clients. “Fundamentally, our success in the various fields of operation has been mainly attributed to the profound industrial and financial expertise of our partners and team members. We are managing our performance equity projects and our funds with the utmost care and view on risk/return operating based on our global industrial and political network.” This global network is central to the firm’s success, as Thomas outlines how SilverArrow Capital utilises it to identify and understand trends before and during the investment process.

4 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

“Before we invest, we analyse micro and macroeconomic and industrial trends that will positively impact specific industries. Some are near term opportunities driven by disruptive technologies or regulatory actions and others are longer-term, influenced by macroeconomic trends, geopolitical shifts or new business models. “Our investment approach is to focus on proven trends or attractive sectors rather than on companies that happen to be for sale. We focus on good concepts that generate profitable investment opportunities and higher-than-average financial returns. “In addition, we structure to succeed, recognising that each deal presents a unique set of challenges. As such, we have been at the forefront of developing and executing innovative deal structures. As the firm is primarily concerned with growing businesses, and will always employ growth capital financing that is appropriate to maximize value.” With regards to investment products, Prime Capital Management offers a global equities Pluto Fund, which has established an industry benchmark for the third consecutive year based on the funds net performance. Since the inception of Pluto Fund, the Group has seen a total net performance of 56.13% over the last three years, with 17.37% in 2014, 11.73% in 2015 and 19.06% in 2016. The fund has outperformed all major indices and now has positioned itself as a new fund investment powerhouse in the industry. Compared to the 2016 index performance of MSCI World (8.15%), MSCI Europe (0.22%), DAX (11.65%) EUROSTOXX (3.97%) and S&P (11.24%) Pluto Fund with its selected global equities strategy has clearly shown superior returns in 2016 with plus 19% in net performance. Thomas discusses the fund in more and how it aims to provide value whilst avoiding significant risk. “Pluto Fund is focussed on sustainable value creation in the global equites landscape and has demonstrated a strong and consistent investment track record. Generating sustainable high return at

SilverArrow Capital Group

an acceptable level of risk is always a big challenge in today’s environment. Our active ownership strategy in public markets provide an attractive solution to our partners and clients.” Moving forward, Thomas foresees a number of exciting opportunities within his firm’s core markets. Within the US, the pre-election outlook held that slowing population growth – resulting in slower labour input and economic growth – was the ‘new normal.’ Post-election sentiment suggests that we are going to get some fiscal stimulus, but that will likely be ineffective in boosting growth on a longterm basis due to demographic constraints. Economists have been raising their growth forecasts for next year, but only slightly, so you’re looking at a little over 2% in 2017. We could see a quarter or two of strong growth but it’s not sustainable, unless we increase immigration or get a sharp rise in productivity growth. While there are a number of uncertainties in the economic outlook, the largest risk is in global trade. A trade war would boost inflation through higher import costs and disrupt supply chains in U.S. manufacturing. Cooler heads should prevail, but a trade war would undermine economic growth at a time when global trade is already slowing. In Europe, there is no doubt that a backlash against the European political elite is happening and clearly there are issues to work through in Italy, France and other EU nations. Banks remain troubled, the political system is uncertain and the people are unhappy, but our sentiment for 2017 is that the European economy will stay strong. The direction of Brexit is not yet clear. The timetable is slower, practical realities are showing a ‘soft’ Brexit as the likely endpoint, rather than a more divisive, aggressive kind of breaking up of relations between the UK and the European Union. Overall, there are guaranteed to be struggles ahead for the region’s economies, however, in comparison to three or six months ago, the outlook is favourable. The catalysts would be more earnings growth and potential political stability with the upcoming elections in Germany and France. Combine this with last year’s big out flows from European equity markets, and opportunities may surface going forward. Overall these opportunities will provide SilverArrow Capital with a number of great chances to grow its portfolio and expertise, as Thomas concludes. “Going forward SilverArrow Capital Group will continue to build our performance equity activist portfolio in Europe and the US, as we are confident that these markets will respond favourably.”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 5

Angus Moore Wealth Management Limited IF17026

Best Investment Advisory Firm – Hong Kong Company: Angus Moore Wealth Management Limited (A subsidiary of Fortuna Group Holding (Hong Kong) Co., Limited) Name: Janet Yeung Email: info@amgroup.com.hk Web: www.fortunaholding.com Address: Units 2617-18, 26/F, Miramar Tower, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Telephone: (852) 3915 0998

Angus Moore Wealth Management Limited Angus Moore Wealth Management Limited, a subsidiary of Fortuna Group Holding (Hong Kong) Co., Limited, is an asset management company that based in Hong Kong to serve the High Net Worth clients in the Greater China region. We are delighted to invite Ms Janet, the Group CEO, to further introduce their group businesses and their development strategies to us. The group is a modern financial services institution that, through their global distribution networks of financial and value-added service system, helps the Chinese enterprises and High Net Worth clients to achieve global investing and wealth planning. The firm’s core strategy of building a competitive edge is to build a high standard of client satisfaction that exceeds the clients’ expectations. By using this strategy, the group focuses on using the resources to fully enhance the client experience and satisfaction. This includes providing comprehensive and high standards of wealth management services to the clients, through which the Group has built extensive but comprehensive networks with different world’s leading private banks, investment banks, fund houses, insurance companies, law firms, tax

“The wealthy people now in China are facing different challenging problems, including the wealth preservation, the wealth enhancing and family succession planning.” advisers and immigration consultancy companies to establish strategic business cooperation globally. In addition, the group has established strong asset management capabilities. The firm’s investment research department has been focusing on China and the Global Fund analysis and research, they have successfully built their own and unique fund analysis model. Besides helping the clients for the global fund portfolio management, their group has also launched the first Fund of Funds (FOF) in the private equity industry in China in August 2014. This collaborative focus extends to the wider industry, and as such the firm has established convenient marketing and services networks. It has established dozens of branches and franchises companies in China to provide timely and convenient services to different clients in different places in China.

6 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

Within the wider investment industry, the rapid development in the past 30 years, there is a huge amount of private wealth accumulated in China. The wealthy people now in China are facing different challenging problems, including the wealth preservation, the wealth enhancing and family succession planning. Therefore, it is undeniable that investing globally has become an inevitable choice for the High Net Worth families in China. As such, the firm will, moving forward, continue to open their cooperation platforms in Hong Kong, based on a win-win goal, to actively seek different outstanding institutions in different aspects in the world for cooperation. By using their marketing and service platforms, they will keep on providing excellent global financial and value added services to the High Net Worth families in China.

Bhatt Innovation Capital LLC IF17012

Best New Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund: Bhatt Innovation Capital

Bhatt Innovation Capital LLC Bhatt Innovation Capital LLC’s fund is well differentiated from most in the hedge fund industry; Bhatt Innovation Capital LP is a woman-and-minority-managed long/short equity hedge fund that seeks to capitalize on both innovation and obsolescence cycles in technology-driven markets. We spoke to Vinit S. Bhatt and Hilarey Bhatt, MD to find out more about this specialist fund. Vinit S. Bhatt and Hilarey Bhatt, MD are founders and managing members of Bhatt Innovation Capital, and together, they manage all aspects of the fund. Their primary focus is on using their extensive experience in medicine, science, and engineering, as well as in investment, to find those opportunities that are normally too complicated and intangible for most on Wall Street.

Company: Bhatt Innovation Capital LLC Name: Vinit S. Bhatt and Hilarey Bhatt, MD Email: vbhatt@bhattic.com and hbhatt@bhattic.com Web: www.bhattic.com Address: 507 Miller Avenue, Suite 2, Mill Valley, CA 94941 Telephone: Office: 415-569-4501; Cell: 415-816-4900

Dr. Hilarey Bhatt has five years of experience in basic and applied life science research, as well as 17 years’ experience as a practicing and teaching physician. These years of experience make her uniquely capable of evaluating companies’ product portfolios, from the earliest bench investigations into fully developed and marketed stages. Dr. Bhatt is the holder of an MD from the University of California – San Francisco, an MPhil in Neuroscience from Yale University, and a BA from Amherst College, where she graduated summa cum laude. Vinit S. Bhatt’s background in engineering coupled with his 20 years’ experience in fundamentallybased investing affords him the potential for unique insights into firms poised to potentially benefit from advances in technology, and the ability to recognize those which are likely to fall behind. Mr. Bhatt is the holder of an MBA from The University of Chicago – Booth School of Business, an MS in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Virginia, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California-Berkeley. Hilarey and Vinit explain that their fund utilizes a long/short strategy, which is used to generate alpha for both the long and short investments, not in order to hedge the long book. “The Fund’s investment strategy encompasses a bottom-up, fundamentally-driven, substanceoriented, research-intensive approach. The fund primarily invests in public companies operating in the technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, telecommunication, manufacturing, chemical and media sectors, for example digital entertainment and video gaming. “We manage the risks presented through diversification, very careful stock selection, and by allocating opportunity in accordance with the risk that we perceive. Understanding risk in innovationdriven companies requires extensive experience in medicine and the sciences, and a bottom-up research approach. Consequently, we track the latest technological breakthroughs in both industry and academia, and we spend a great deal of time reading articles in medical and science publications. “Our risk management is also complemented by shorting stocks. Our short strategy is not necessarily

for hedging the long book, but for generating alpha. We developed proprietary algorithms based on published academic research that can very quickly screen for companies with deteriorating business fundamentals. We then do further bottom-up research to identify those companies most likely to fail and suffer share price contraction.” Vinit and Hilarey note that success in the hedge fund industry, especially for an emerging manager such as themselves, requires their investors to have a high level trust and comfort with the investment manager. “We think that this level of trust and comfort comes with operational transparency, resiliency and efficiency. In line with this, we are employing a unique out-sourced model which allows for better operational efficiency, compliance and transparency. Fund management and core investment decisions are handled by our internal team of two, with day-to-day accounting and compliance oversight performed by Constellation Advisers, a third-party. Maples Fund Services, our administrator, is directly networked to Interactive Brokers, the prime brokerage, and we utilize a cloudbased IT platform which is managed externally by Proactive Technologies. Our computer network links all of these operations - trading, accounting, compliance, and administration - together. This structure allows us to focus on investing and on being nimble in trading, while ensuring to our investors that there is no oversight in our process. “As far as technology is concerned, we always make sure that we are at the forefront, both for hardware and for cloud-based software, which allows us to remain on the cutting edge of new developments. We have employed the latest in cloud-based IT, including the best CRM software, for communication with our investors, as reliable information technology gives us efficiency in portfolio management and better communication with our investors. We always aim to make ourselves as accessible as possible for our investors through a direct line, using this to our competitive advantage within the industry to assure our clients that we are the best possible solution. We are also markedly different from our competitors in the hedge fund industry, owing to our focus on innovation-based companies, our extensive backgrounds in medicine, science and engineering, and our unique outsource-based model. “Looking to the future, we believe that investors in hedge funds will demand better performance and transparency, which we intend to meet with our business model. We launched our fund in January 2016, and concentrated our effort over the year on performance and operations. Going forward, we want to continue generating excellent performance for our clients and enjoying what we do!”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 7

BTZ Navigation LLC IF17031

BTZ Navigation LLC Company: BTZ Navigation LLC Address: 590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10022 Managing Partners: Michel Brogard - michel.brogard @btznavigation.com Andy Thorson - Andy.thorson@ btznavigation.com Alexis Zoullas - alexis.zoullas@ btznavigation.com

Best Shipping-Focused VC Fund: BTZ Navigation I LP

BTZ Navigation LLC BTZ Navigation LLC is a shipping focused investment company offering investment options in this niche sector. Managing Partner Andy Thorson tells us more. Established in 2015 specifically to invest in the Dry Bulk Shipping sector BTZ Navigation work with parties globally across the sector. Andy discusses the firm and its flagship fund. “Our award winning flagship fund, BTZ Navigation Fund 1, is managing risk by entering with asset values at lows not seen since the mid 1980’s. The

“Ultimately, BTZ is committed to transparency and compliance from both investor and industry perspectives.” underlying scrap value of dry bulk ships creates significant downside protection. Our strategy comprises an all equity approach creating both staying power in the market and a profile that makes us a desirable counterpart for brokers and principals shipping dry bulk goods.”

8 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

What truly sets the firm apart is the experience and dedication of its senior team, as Andy is keen to emphasise. “Our team is a unique combination the skills our partners bring to the table: deep operational experience in both publicly traded and private dry bulk shipping, fiduciary and fund management expertise and global M&A experience.” As a young company BTZ Navigation is keen to avoid creating bad habits and instead create a legacy of excellence for both investors and shareholders, as Andy concludes. “Ultimately, BTZ is committed to transparency and compliance from both investor and industry perspectives. We are entering the industry without any legacy balance sheet or operating issues and focused uniquely on executing our investment strategy, and moving forward cultivating a culture of excellence will remain our ongoing focus.”

CNX Coal Resources LP IF17004

Best Fossil Fuel Fund (YTD): CNXC & Mining Industry CFO of the Year 2017 - USA Company: CNX Coal Resources LP Name: Diane Chardello Email: dianechardello@cnxlp.com Web: www.cnxlp.com

CNX Coal Resources LP CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC) is a growth-oriented master limited partnership sponsored by CONSOL Energy Inc. to manage and further develop all of CONSOL’s active coal operations in Pennsylvania. We invited Chief Financial and Accounting Officer Lori Ritter to tell us more.

CNXC has a 25% undivided interest in and full operational control over CONSOL Energy’s Pennsylvania mining complex (PAMC). The complex is a highly automated and technologically advanced underground mining operation with 791.4 million tons of high-Btu bituminous coal reserves. Lori outlines how this asset is managed in order to create strong returns for the company. “The PAMC has always been at the leading edge of technology when it comes to coal mining in the USA. We are one of the leading experts in longwall mining technology, which is the most productive technique of underground mining. Our management team is very focussed on the technological changes and developments in the underground mining sector. We have a dedicated group of engineers who continuously work with vendors, equipment manufacturers and other players to ensure that we have the most advanced equipment and techniques. This approach is not just limited to mining.

“Overall, we continuously evaluate and implement new technologies/products that help us on marketing, safety and environmental compliance, and all sectors within our company.” “Overall, we continuously evaluate and implement new technologies/products that help us on marketing, safety and environmental compliance, and all sectors within our company.” Currently the coal industry faces several challenges. The biggest threat to the industry is low cost natural gas. For a company to be successful in this industry, it has to be a very low cost, reliable supplier to its customers. The goal is to achieve the lowest delivered cost of fuel on an MMBtu basis for customers. In addition, differentiation in such a highly competitive market is crucial, as Lori emphasises.

“While coal is widely seen as a commodity, we have successfully differentiated our product from our peers. We have achieved this by highlighting the higher heat content and ability to switch into premium markets (coking vs thermal). Furthermore, our marketing team has spent a lot of time in identifying and targeting the customers that could be our long term partners and provide us more value for our product. These identified customers also view CNXC as a strategic fit given the premium quality of our coal, logistical advantages and innovative pricing structure that we offer. “Alongside this we view our customers as our partners. We want to have open communication with our customers so that we understand their requirements/constraints and work with them accordingly. In return they provide us with timely and accurate feedback on our performance so we can get better, and it is this communicative, collaborative approach which marks us out as the best possible option for our customers.” Looking ahead, Lori is positive and excited about the future as CNXC seeks to build upon its current success. “The past twelve months proved very challenging for the US coal industry but I am very pleased with what the CNXC team has been able to do for its common unitholders. We not only continued to pay them a very strong and attractive distribution yield, but we also grew the company significantly by acquiring additional assets. This was achieved by significant cost reductions achieved by our operations team, contributions from our support staff and our marketing team’s ability to gain market share during those challenging times. Heading into 2017, the CNXC team continues to remain focussed on growing the company and generating attractive returns for our unitholders. “In order to achieve this we have a very well laid out growth strategy. Our first goal is to acquire the remaining 75% of the ownership of the PAMC that currently rests with our sponsor. We know that asset very well and we are already operating the asset and as such we have eliminated the integration risk. This bodes well and I am confident that this asset will prove to be an excellent addition to our current portfolio.”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 9

Greenwich Investment Management, Inc. IF17017

Best Investment Advisory Firm - Connecticut

Greenwich Investment Management, Inc.

Company: Greenwich Investment Management, Inc. Name: Drew J. Collins, CFA Email: djc@greenwichinvestmentmgt.com Web: www.greenwichinvestmentmgt.com Address: 200 First Stamford Place, Second Floor East Stamford, CT 06902, USA Telephone: 1- (203)-625-5316

Greenwich Investment Management is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families. Drew Collins provides us with an absorbing overview of the firm. Greenwich Investment Management specializes in income driven investment strategies, focusing on two primary asset classes, high yield tax-exempt bonds and dividend paying equities that have the potential to grow their dividends over time. Drew discusses the firm’s investment approach and philosophy, both of which play vital roles in ensuring that clients receive the very best returns possible. “Here at Greenwich Investment Management our investment philosophy is based on the idea that clients prosper when they take advantage of the compounding effect of income over time, which has been called one of the most powerful forces in the universe.

“Here at Greenwich Investment Management our investment philosophy is based on the idea that clients prosper when they take advantage of the compounding effect of income over time, which has been called one of the most powerful forces in the universe.” “As part of this approach we manage separate accounts for every client. There are no mutual funds or pooled investment vehicles available for our investment strategy. In order to ensure the strongest possible returns for clients, we manage risk by doing extensive due diligence on each bond transaction and equity in which we invest. We manage concentrated portfolios that are constructed to offer higher than market levels of income with lower than market levels of volatility. The yield on our bond portfolio is several percentage points above that which can be achieved in an investment grade tax-exempt bond portfolio and the dividend yield on our equity portfolios is targeted to be at least twice that of the major market indices.” Central to the firm’s success is its innovative approach and commitment to supporting their clients, as Drew emphasises.

10 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

“In our view, the firms that succeed tend to have a few things in common. They put the interests of their clients ahead of all others. They adhere to the highest ethical standards. They perform in depth research and analysis of every investment and create portfolios that are resilient in almost any market environment. They also strive for excellent investment performance and continuous improvement. “As such we offer a unique service offering, with an investment approach that is highly differentiated from our competition whilst at the same time adhering to these focuses. We purchase entire bond issues on behalf of our clients to finance charter schools, senior living facilities, and Fixed Base Operations (FBOs) at regional airports among others. “Additionally, we perform extensive due diligence on each transaction to ensure the success of each project and the quality of the credit. On the equity side we have a heavily research driven, valuation based approach that focuses on identifying companies that are able not only to continue to pay their dividends, but to grow them into the future.” In order to build upon this success and grow as a business the firm is keen to continue to grow its service offering and adapt to the ever evolving needs of its clients, as Drew concludes. “Recently, our firm was approved as an emerging manager on the wealth management platform of one of the largest Swiss banks for our highyield tax-exempt bond strategy. We expect that relationship to be a key strategic differentiator going forward. We are also managing assets for other RIA (registered investment advisor) firms that rely on us for our investment expertise and we expect to continue to expand in this distribution channel. These developments will provide our firm with many great opportunities which we look forward to taking advantage of over the years and months to come.”

Gunn Agri Partners IF17032

Best Australian Agriculture Fund: Gunn Agri Cattle Fund Company: Gunn Agri Partners Address: 1503, Westfield Tower 2, 101 Grafton Street, Bondi Junction, NSW 2022 Australia Email: invest@gunnagri.com Web: www.gunnagri.com

Gunn Agri Partners Gunn Agri Partners is a farmland manager, the principals having decades of hands on experience from farm owner, to farm manager and heads of some of Australia’s premier farming businesses. We profile the firm and explore the secrets behind its success to date.

Founded in 2013, Gunn Agri Partners was established by a dedicated team of agricultural and investment industry professionals. Today the team comprises of a range of professionals with deep experience through the value chain from acquisition, operation and disposal of farming and agri assets. They have extensive experience in farm management, corporate governance and advisory of agricultural companies and public organisations. The Chairman, Bill Gunn founded Gunn Rural Management in the 1960’s which was a pioneer in management of agricultural assets for third party investors. The other principals have previously been involved at a senior management level with Old Mutal, Macquarie Group and ICM Agribusiness.

“Gunn Agri Partners core principals are alignment and transparency.” Gunn Agri Partners currently manages over one million acres of Australian agricultural land on behalf of institutional investors via the Gunn Agri Cattle Fund. The Fund provides investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of cattle production enterprises in the beef industry within Australia. Cunningham Cattle Company Pty Ltd is the operating entity owned by the Fund. Gunn Agri Partners core principals are alignment and transparency. The farms are managed according to a range of principals, including using scale and technology to reduce input costs and a focus on least cost production systems. The firm also plan and record all on-farm activities and use a third party operational audit system for risk

management. Best in class ESG planning and monitoring via Global GAP and the PRI Farmland Principles helps the firm to offer sustainable solutions in production agriculture. Additionally, Gunn Agri Partners offer separately managed accounts to individual or club investors across Australian agricultural production systems: • grains and oilseed cropping • beef cattle • permanent crops • dairy cattle Supplementary services provided include transaction advisory services, as well as advice on acquisitions, asset management and disposal, drawing on the vast expertise of the firm’s dedicated and knowledgeable staff. The team has worked across all the major production regions of the world with experience in South America, Africa, North America and Central / Eastern Europe. Despite this, on both a risk and return basis Australia is the team’s entire focus. With a stable geopolitical environment and excellent production conditions Australia represents an ideal agricultural investment destination. As the 6th largest country in the world and a population of just 24m, Australia is a leading agricultural exporter with approximately 60% of all farm produce exported. This coupled with the fact Australia is open to foreign investment in farmland has made it the focus of foreign capital looking to gain exposure to the global food thematic and rising middle class of Asia. Ultimately, Gunn Agri Partners is your farming partner and will continue to be so for many years to come.

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 11

IF17029

Best Multi-Strategy Fund (5 Years): HedgEmerge & Best Multi Strategy Manager - UK

HedgEmerge HedgEmerge is a multi-strategy manager of Emerging Funds. We invited CEO Quinton Wood to tell us more about the firm and the range of investment services and products it offers. Company: HedgEmerge Name: Quinton Wood Email: qwood@hedgemerge.com Web: www.hedgemerge.com

HedgEmerge is a Multi Strategy Manager, specializing in selecting and allocating investment capital to small or emerging Hedge Funds. Quinton defines an emerging market and outlines the firm’s product offerings in this area, as well as various aspects of the firm’s approach. “At HedgEmerge, our current definition of an Emerging Manager is one whose AUM is under $100m. They often out perform their larger peer group and there have been many studies to demonstrate this. Our typical manager is an industry veteran who has considerable experience in running funds but has decided to set up their own fund and is operating with friends and family money. They all have good double digit performance with low volatility. We then ensure that correlations between our chosen managers are low to ensure that we have a fully diversified portfolio. This helps to manage our risk in a number of ways. “On the investment side, our typical Investor is a HNW or Family office. They are attracted to HedgEmerge for a number of reasons. Our policy of Zero Management fees is very attractive and in an industry where returns have at times been derisory at best, loss making at worst, management fees are under significant pressure. A fully diversified portfolio of Emerging Managers allows investors access to superior alpha generation without the volatility associated with one individual manager. The ability for the investor to do Due Diligence on us at HedgEmerge, and thereby know that our underlying managers have already been vetted by us, thereby saving considerable amounts of time and effort in trying to search out the suitable managers. “Currently our product offering centres around a portfolio of Long Short Equity managers who operate in liquid Global markets. We do have plans to expand into slightly different areas or versions of something similar, for example a Market neutral version of our current fund. Capital preservation is a central tenant our business and therefore we have built risk management procedures into the core processes of the firm. “From our systematic approach to manager selection, right through to the pre and post trade risk management software suite we use we have designed Risk Management to be at the forefront

12 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

of our thinking. We operate with Managed Accounts which gives us live access to market risk at all levels of granularity, from an individual position, through to the top level of the consolidated positions of the whole portfolio. We recognise that our attractiveness to investors comes from a mix of parameters including performance and volatility. Therefore, our Risk Management techniques are aimed at reducing volatility over the long term and eradicating the possibility of serious loss.” Overall, technology, and specifically software forms the backbone of the firm’s Risk Management capability. This ensures that there are hard and soft rules in place, these form barriers and guides for many aspects of our business. The rules are designed to protect the firm and come from past experiences running proprietary trading businesses and Hedge Funds. The rules based systems and procedures are not just applicable to the Emerging Managers and their trading, and can also be found in other aspects of the business, ensuring that there are checks and balances in place where required. Despite this focus on technology, Quinton is keen to emphasises the fact that staff play a vital role in the firm and its success. “People are an extremely important commodity in our business and at HedgEmerge we look to build long term relationships with both our staff and our investors. This is based on bedrock of trust, honesty and integrity. For our team, we look to provide the right environment for younger team members to grow and be mentored by senior personnel. This builds relationships that last and helps to encourage individuals to add their personal qualities to the roles that they perform. “From an investor perspective, we also look to build long term relationships, communicating with them, listening to them and keeping an open door policy, so that they are able to approach us when they need to. We fully appreciate our role as temporary guardians of their funds and look to perform to the best of our abilities, managing risk, reducing volatility whilst offering growth in all market conditions.” What truly sets the firm apart, according to Quinton, is the firm’s innovative structure and unique place in the market.

HedgEmerge

Pacific Fund Systems Limited IF17016

“Our business is differentiated from our peer group in a number of ways. The most obvious differentiator is the fact that we do not pay or receive Management Fees. This is a defining feature of the business; alignment of the incentives of the Emerging manager with those of the investor. This leads on to another defining feature of HedgEmerge, which is the use of a small degree of leverage in order to create the returns required to compensate the three parties; Emerging manager, Investor, HedgEmerge. This boosts the return on the diversified portfolio. “Having a degree of leverage being utilised by the managers requires stricter risk management techniques especially with underperforming managers. Our reallocation strategy ensures that leverage is removed from underperforming managers to reduce the prospect of capital loss. The fact that leverage is applied at the portfolio level at HedgEmerge means that we have an inherently less risky and less volatile product compared to a similar sized investment in a highly leveraged single fund, such as a CTA Fund. Operating in the Emerging manager niche is also a defining characteristic of our fund. Emerging Managers are efficient at deploying capital, are incentivised to perform, are nimbler in the markets and sometimes can take advantage of trading opportunities which do not exist for larger players.” Looking to the future, Quinton and his team have identified a number of exciting growth opportunities which he is keen to outline. Moving forward, we see a number of variants of the same strategy as possible avenues of growth. From our current starting point, we can see that some investors would want access to the strategy in a local sense, i.e. perhaps an Asian or European variant, or alternatively they would want access to managers in a slightly different “Emerging” band. Perhaps AUM’s of 100m – 250m. For some investors, less leverage might be more attractive, and therefore we are exploring various possibilities for growth and new products. “Within the wider market we see pressure on two aspects of fund management, underperformance and fees. Typically, large bloated managers are being scrutinized on both issues and it is hard to justify high fixed costs, such as management fees, in periods of poor returns. It is also hard to strip out bloated cost bases. With the redemptions we have seen across the industry in the second half of 2016 we recognise that this has created two opportunities. Firstly, it has shone the spotlight on Alternatives and secondly it will create a new crop of Emerging Managers in 12-18 months’ time, as those ex-managers are now looking for their next project. “Overall, there are numerous ways to expand the business and we’re looking forward to exploring these in the future.

Company: Pacific Fund Systems Limited Name: Kelly Ashe (Sales and Marketing Manager) Email: information@ pacificfundsystems.com Web: www.pacificfundsystems.com Address: Island House, Isle of Man Business Park, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 2QZ Telephone: +44 (0) 1624 632772

Best Fund Administration Software Vendor 2017

Pacific Fund Systems Limited Pacific Fund Systems (PFS) has been supporting the investment fund accounting and fund administration industry for over 17 years via its core PFS-PAXUS product. We profile the firm and explore the secrets behind its success. Since its inception in 1999 PFS has PFS’ innovative solutions gone from strength to strength with are provided to leading fund continual year-on-year growth. administrators seeking the technical and servicing competencies to keep This success can be attributed to customers satisfied today and into its award winning PFS-PAXUS the future. Although the firm’s client system, a specialist investment base is spread across the globe, accounting and fund administration they are all connected by the growth software. The system fully supports and success of their operations the NAV calculation and shareholder thanks to the support and solutions servicing administration for all types provided by PFS. of traditional and alternative funds, including retail funds, hedge funds, PFS’ product offering is private equity, and managed account complemented by a highly skilled investment vehicles. and knowledgeable team, who each have extensive knowledge gained PFS software has completely re- from many years’ experience of engineered the work processes of fund administration operations. This fund administrators by replacing exceptionally strong combination of multiple legacy systems with one award-winning products alongside innovative integrated solution with exceptional support allows PFS customer web access built into its to deliver an innovative and core. Throughout its history the firm has always had a global approach to its business; PFS-PAXUS software is in operation in 70+ separate database installations across the globe, with thousands of funds being administered and audited on PFS-PAXUS annually. Clients range from single office fund administration firms to major fund administration service providers who commonly have thousands of staff globally. Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 13

Pacific Fund Systems Limited

dynamic set of products to its core target market; independent fund administrators. Looking ahead, the fund administration sector is changing quite rapidly, as more and more demands are placed upon administrators to comply with ever increasing regulatory and reporting requirements demanded by the world’s regulators and tax authorities. As such PFS have invested time and resources to analyse the ways in which the needs of fund administrators have changed and will continue to change, developing functionality which will assist administrators to automate areas of the additional responsibility placed upon them. Importantly, PFS constantly monitor the industry to identify what adaptions are in view and seek to ensure solutions are in place by or before they are demanded by administrators – therefore helping to retain its enviable position as the software supplier of choice for the fund administration industry. Additionally, in line with the aim of staying ahead of current technological trends and the efficiencies they create, PFS is currently enhancing its offering with the planned delivery of PFS-PAXUS via the cloud, as a PFS hosted solution, targeted for launch in 2017. The existing ‘client hosted’ model will continue to be offered in parallel with PFS-CLOUD, providing new and existing clients with an enhanced range of hosting options. As such, PFS-PAXUS and PFSCONNECT will be able to be rapidly deployed in the cloud delivering an alternative hosting option for clients looking to use best of breed hosting, set up and technical support for PFS-PAXUS, PFS-CONNECT and related interfaces. PFSCLOUD will also offer existing and future clients the opportunity to mitigate IT costs, improve flexibility to scale software usage and increase focus on core business activities without compromising security or user experience. The PFS-CLOUD initiative will allow PFS to manage the PFS-PAXUS environment in the cloud, working directly with leading global data hosts. Services will include new release updates, interface maintenance and environment tuning. With the number of interfaces expected to grow in scale and complexity it will make technical and financial sense to have PFS experts managing the PFS-PAXUS technology environment on behalf of clients, in turn allowing those administrators to focus on their core business. PFS is committed to continuing to build upon this client focussed, technology led ethos, to support its strong market position, both now and into the future.

14 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

Keills IF17020

Best Independent Property Fund Manager - UK Company: Keills Name: Andy Speedie Alan Howie Email: andy,speedie@keills.com, alan.howie@keills.com Web: www.keills.com Address: Suite 240 Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, Glasgow G2 6HJ Telephone: 0141 250 7742, 0142 250 7743

Keills Keills is an independent and specialist property fund manager based in Scotland and managing assets throughout the UK. We invited coFounder Andy Speedie to tell us more. Drawing on the combined experience of its Founders, Alan Howie and Andy Speedie, which spans over 25 years, Keills offers a range of investment solutions which focus on the property sector. Andy discusses this range of investment products and how they focus on creating value for investors. “Here at Keills, our principal fund is a pooled vehicle for UK pension funds and takes the form of an Exempt Property Unit Trust. Since 2010, the Trust has been entirely focussed on assets where the rent is linked to inflation. This is based upon our belief that at the all property level, rents will not grow in aggregate. We coined the term “RPI Property” to define our strategy of investing in strong locations, with high quality tenants on long leases linked to RPI/CPI or fixed uplifts. “In addition, we run a number of smaller trusts and syndicates for HNW investors. The smaller trusts and syndicates are all about the property, where we focus on creating additional value. Knowing what is happening at the local level helps mitigate risk and often presents us with the chance to turn these risks into opportunities for growth or improvement. What truly sets us apart is that we are a highly experienced business and genuinely independent. This often gives us a lead on our competitors as we can move quickly. “Our strategy follows our belief that there are three elephants in the room: the current global debt levels, ever increasing healthcare costs and the forthcoming pensions crisis. We believe that many in the real estate market are unwilling to recognise these issues and how they affect property both now and in the future. “One of the main issues affecting the real estate industry is experience, with many funds operated by younger managers with less expertise. We remain very much ‘hands on’ when it comes to managing our funds. The length of the investment cycle is such that it takes many years, or even decades, to gain the appropriate experience of dealing through the peaks and troughs of the market.”

institutional investors. Following the sale of the real estate business and its subsequent mergers, Alan and Andy served on the UK executive board of Aberdeen Property Investors, at that time running £6bn of assets in the UK and Europe. In 2005 they joined a boutique investment bank focussed on HNW and institutional clients, where they started a new property fund management business which they then acquired through a management buy-out in 2008 and Keills was formed. Andy describes the firm’s investment philosophy, which has been honed over the years, and how this ensures clients receive the service they need. “Over the years we have developed a strong philosophy based around one simple idea: treat the client’s money as you would if it was your own. This view is often overlooked by other firms, but it ensures that clients receive the service and returns they need. We do not take unnecessary risks or expose their money to excess volatility. “In addition, we aim to offer a balance between upto-the-minute reports and services and offering the client what they want, rather than what the market thinks they want. Throughout the investment market, much time is wasted trying to be cutting edge. We have found that focussing on what the client wants, tends to work. However, we have never been shy to lead our clients into new areas of investment, and were one of the first institutional investors to get into the now heavily oversubscribed area of student accommodation back in the mid-90s.” Moving forward, growth and expansion are the core aims for Keills, as Andy confidently concludes. “Looking ahead, our main objective is to grow Keills Property Trust. It is priced competitively and has a strong, professional and highly experienced team on board.Our strategy is well proven and our flow of deals is exemplary. The Trust is positioned for growth and open to local authority, corporate and private pension fund investors”.”

This is where Keills differentiates itself; with Andy and Alan Howie having worked together in institutional fund management since 1990. They met at Scottish Amicable, at that time one of Scotland’s largest

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 15

IF17040

Best International Multi-Asset Manager Platform

Lawson Conner is an award-winning provider of hosted fund solutions for Private Equity managers, Corporate Finance advisors, Hedge Funds and other financial institutions. In addition we offer customised solutions in the areas of Fund Structuring, Outsourced Compliance, Global Regulatory Infrastructure, Fund Distribution, Regulatory Hosting, Appointed Representative Services and ManCo Services

Discover your opportunity Launch your own fund in one month Through our Discovery Investment Manager Platform, you can open your own dedicated and protected sub fund within four weeks at a fraction of the typical fund launch cost, starting from $20,000*.

+44 (0) 20 3696 2568 www.lawsonconner.com/discovery Regulatory Hosting | AIFM ManCo Services | Appointed Representative Services | Outsourced Compliance Services | Discovery Investment Manager Platform *Subject to terms and conditions

Moore Management IF17005

Best Alternative Fund Administrator – Channel Islands

Moore Management Moore Management is a leading provider of independent fund services to corporate and institutional clients around the world. We invited Jon Trigg, Head of Global Fund Services at the firm, to tell us more. Company: Moore Management Address: Ground Floor, Liberation House, Castle Street St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3AT Phone: +44 1534 822 500 Fax: +44 1534 616 900 Email: enquiries@ mooremanagement.com Web: www.mooremanagement.com

From its global offices in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Tokyo, Singapore and Bermuda, Moore Management provides a range of fund administration and management services to offshore structures and fund managers investing in a wide range of asset classes, from private equity to real estate and alternative assets. Jon explains how the firm leverages the technical expertise of its people to provide its extensive portfolio of clients with the services they need to ensure that they are tax efficient and fully compliant with regional and sector regulations. “One of our key goals at Moore Management is to understand and meet our clients’ needs, which we consistently achieve thanks to the experience and quality of our people. In our Jersey and Guernsey offices alone, 40% of our employees are qualified accountants who use their technical knowledge to ensure that the process of setting up and maintaining funds is as effective and streamlined as possible for our clients. Our people are also a vital component when it comes to establishing and maintaining a strong relationship with those clients. Our specialist on-boarding team and our Senior Management spend a significant portion of their time ensuring clients receive the support they need. In turn, the company invests heavily in the professional development of its people so that the necessary skillsets are present at all levels of the organisation.” “Alongside our people, a differentiating feature of Moore Management is our ability to offer a boutique service with a global reach due to our close working relationship with our parent company, First Names Group. We pride ourselves on tailoring our approach and reporting to the individual client; however, when required we are able to draw upon a pool of qualified trust and corporate practitioners across further strategic locations to add a new dimension to our services.”

“Not only are the Channel Islands tax neutral jurisdictions, which effectively allows funds to prevent tax escaping through investors, ensuring stronger returns. The region is also highly regulated and therefore investors feel safe in the knowledge that their investments are protected. It is for these reasons that we operate offices in both Jersey and Guernsey, as these are both key financial hubs within the region and represent the ideal bases from which to support our clients.” Recently the Channel Islands have seen a flurry of activity as new fund managers enter the market seeking offshore structures that can take advantage of the opportunities that may arise from the UK’s recent Brexit vote. For example, Jon notes that the firm’s Jersey office has been working with private equity and venture capital funds which are being launched by relatively new managers that are seeking the expertise of firms such as Moore Management to support them through the tough early stages of a fund’s inception. In Guernsey, the market has seen increased interest from Middle Eastern investors seeking to invest in real estate in the UK – another outcome of the Brexit referendum decision which has opened up opportunities to negotiate lower prices on commercial properties. Indeed, the UK’s decision to separate from the EU looks set to offer many exciting opportunities across the investment market, and many firms, including Moore Management, are going to be taking advantage of these, as Jon concludes. “Looking ahead, the Brexit vote will change the European fund market, with many fund managers set to move out of the UK. As the nearest European country we have identified Ireland as the most likely region for many of these managers, and therefore we are currently looking at our options there. This is just one of a number of opportunities we will be exploring in 2017 – it’s going to be an exciting year.”

Despite having connections around the world, Moore Management believes that the Channel Islands are vital markets for its services – being among the most highly regulated offshore regions in the world, as Jon highlights.

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 17

Runestone Capital IF17006

Most Innovative Hedge Fund: Runestone Capital Fund

Runestone Capital Runestone Capital is a London based investment management firm offering a range of dynamic investment products. We invited Co-Founder Rune Madsen to tell us more about the firm and its award winning fund.

Company: Runestone Capital Address: 239 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6SN, UK Phone: +44 20 7316 3084 Email: info@runestonecap.com Website: runestonecap.com

Established in 2014 to freely express its Founder’s individual investment strategies without the restrictions of an investment bank, Runestone Capital is committed to innovation in the hedge fund industry. Rune, who co-founded the firm, outlines how it came to develop its innovative strategy and how this has shaped its success so far. “During our previous careers the Founders of Runestone Capital always thrived on creating individual strategies and models that generated differentiated and unique results to our clients. Based on conviction in our back-tested, proprietary models going back nine years, we solely funded the firm with our own capital. We saw our proprietary strategy as the greatest opportunity we have ever seen in our investment careers, hence the creation of Runestone Capital. The strategy starting point was to test hypothesizes, which we had observed over our careers and as we did this more variables and hypothesizes came to light and was tested. “The Runestone Capital Fund’s strategy goal is to generated above 20 net annualized return over cycle through the investment in US equity volatility products in the US based on statistical probabilities. The investment horizon is a one-day forward. The fund is not a tail event or a short volatility fund as it is non biased on being long or short volatility. It is designed to work over a wide array of market conditions. “Despite the very different market environments we have seen since the fund launch in May 2015 it has due to its unbiased nature traded up in 75% of the months and reached high water mark in 45%, with the lowest rolling 12-month return being +10.1%. The fund trades VIX related products in a systematic way. This has made the fund able to eliminate human biases and evaluate huge amount of data in real time. We have not found any link to equity market level, direction or valuation to be parameters that affects the results. This makes the fund a true alternative asset. As an example, the same market in one period versus another will produce different fund returns as the variables in the models will have changed despite the equity market being the same.” It is this strategy, and the vast expertise of its Portfolio Managers on which it is based, as Rune explains. “Personally, I believe that our fund is innovative as it is not based on traditional rules and concepts. The

18 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

strategy is based on objective market research in an asset class that is not crowded, which has proven to produce great risk adjusted returns. The fund does not make predictions where global financial markets might move over the medium term nor does it make predictions of what fair valuations are. We have a strategy that has proven to produce substantial results in a wide array of market conditions. Our empirical research has shown that the fund works well as a risk diversifier in a balanced portfolio due to its non-correlated characteristics. “In addition, the transparency of the overall strategy is straightforward as it will either be long or short exposure in volatility based on our models. It is however, impossible to know in advance on which day the strategy will be long or short as low volatility does not automatically mean long volatility and vice versa. Positions are adjusted daily based on statistical probabilities. Our conviction is so high that we invested all our liquid net worth into the strategy and left lucrative jobs to start the fund, highlighting our commitment to our investors and the products we provide them with.” Moving forward, Rune believes that the fund will succeed thanks to its creative strategy and the unique expertise he and his fellow Founder have to offer. “Looking to the future, we believe the performance goal will be reached as the strategy is well designed to work over a cycle and it has shown similar results in the live period versus the back test and we are confident this will continue. Positive results have occurred both in equity markets that traded down, up and in choppy markets without a clear trend. The performance range during negative equity markets are wider than flat to up markets, but so is the average return during these market conditions. Whilst we cannot guarantee that performance will return to the same level as the historical average, however, we believe our strategy going forward will perform according to our performance goals as structurally nothing has materially changed and the models are adaptive of change. “Overall, the market conditions in the future may be very different from today, last week or 3 years ago. This is why we emphasize the overall investment process rather than focusing on short term results. This process has delivered strong results in both the back tests as well as the live period and we feel confident that will continue going forward.”

Third Friday Management IF17011

Best Market Neutral Hedge Fund (Since Inception): Third Friday Total Return Fund L.P & Best Investment Advisory Firm 2017 - Florida Company: Third Friday Management Address: 515 N. Flagler Drive, Suite 300, W. Palm Beach, FL 33401 Phone: 561-239-1510 Fax: 561-658-6495 Email: mlewitt@thirdfriday.com Web: www.thirdfriday.com

Third Friday Management The Third Friday Total Return Fund, L.P. utilizes a proprietary rulesbased options strategy to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in all market environments. We invited Michael Lewitt to tell us more.

The Third Friday Total Return Fund focuses on preservation of capital and insuring that positions are properly hedged. Michael outlines the firmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy and how it aims to achieve the most risk adjusted returns possible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At Third Friday Management we do not take a market view and our returns are not dependent on market direction; we are a genuine market neutral hedge fund. The Fund does not employ leverage, and our strategy is highly scalable since we invest in extremely liquid instruments (S&P 500 Index options). Collateral is invested in a diversified portfolio of income-generating securities.â&#x20AC;?

Current partners consist primarily of high net worth individuals, family offices and insurance companies, with the firm offering funds for both US and non-US investors. Looking ahead, the Fund will remain focused on providing the very best returns possible whilst working in an increasingly challenging market.

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 19

Wavelength Capital Management IF17027

Wavelength Capital Management Company: Wavelength Capital Management Name: Mark Landis Email: Mark.Landis@ wavelengthcapital.com Web: www.wavelengthcapital.com Address: 250 West 57th Street 20th Floor, NY, NY 10107 Telephone: 212-951-1178

Best Quantitative Fixed Income Fund (1 Year): Wavelength Interest Rate Neutral Fund & Investment Management Firm of the Year - New York

Wavelength Capital Management Wavelength Capital Management is an award winning independent investment management firm specializing in liquid, transparent, and costeffective investment solutions designed to preserve assets and produce returns in any economic environment. We caught up with Managing Partner Mark Landis to find out more. Established in 2013, Wavelength Capital Management has since built a strong reputation for striving to deliver exceptional value through consistent investment returns while maintaining the highest levels of ethical conduct and professional integrity. Mark discusses the firm’s product offering in more detail and outlines how this aims to meet its clients’ needs. “Here at Wavelength Capital Management we focus on research-driven, insights powered by technology. We invest using a systematic approach that applies quantitative tools to process fundamental economic and market information. We seek to empower our clients through transparency in what we do, sharing our thought leadership, and our mission is to deliver the best balance of risk and return for their financial future. We invest on behalf of our clients who include some of the largest institutions as well as most sophisticated individuals in the world. “Our product offering consists of three core investment vehicles. Each product’s investment process starts with and ends with Risk management. Our research process encompasses 84 markets and the constituent securities and economies that make up these markets. We use up to 100 years’ worth of historical data and utilize implicit machine language to make the most educated deployment of our client’s capital. Our flagship fund The Wavelength Interest Rate Neutral Fund is a fixed income focused 40-act mutual fund which is designed to produce returns and preserve capital during rising and falling interest rate environments. The fund targets both institutional and sophisticated individuals, providing daily liquidity and full transparency “In addition, we offer the Longwave Advisor, a digital wealth management platform for RIAs and Private Banks offering automated investment services. It is the first digital advisor to feature factor-based investing; focused strictly on business to business. Finally, the Global Macro Signals is an institutional product that utilizes our three phases of portfolio construction. macro risk budgeting, factor signals, and an overall risk metric overlay. The Risk is managed systematically from a top down portfolio perspective as well as from the bottom up on a strategy specific level to control for a variety of risk measures and dimensions including net and gross exposures, position concentration, beta, liquidity, and volatility.” Looking ahead, Mark is keen to emphasise his firm’s focus on remaining at the forefront of the latest industry innovations and providing clients with cutting edge solutions. “In our industry, innovation is necessary for survival. The constant change of financial markets provides

20 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

a natural catalyst for new ideas, and identifying new risks and opportunities is central to how we invest. Wavelength was built for this purpose, and in this process we have surrounded ourselves with smart people who view things differently from the way one person is inclined to see them. As a result, we are constantly re-assessing our processes, looking for new approaches to be more efficient. One of our guiding principles is to keep an open mind, and we regularly look beyond our core competencies to collaborate with experts outside our industry in creating exceptional value, and this will remain our ongoing focus moving forward. “Within the global financial market, the rate of change has been dramatic and we expect further changes to market structures in the future. For example, there is a trend to increased liquidity in broader index level products as opposed to the underlying cash instruments they are based on. With this, we believe in moving with liquidity, not away from it. Our number one screen is liquidity and signs of liquidity. Also, the use of computers has taken previous inefficiencies out of many instruments. Previously, viable investment edges versus competition have become less and less sustainable, and many legendary investors—such as Bacon, Soros, and Robertson—have given back money as inefficiencies they took advantage of have waned. We believe that the use of dynamic technology can identify new opportunities that garner excess returns for investors. Our models are designed to be dynamic and their effectiveness at predicting excess returns is constantly re-assessed. “In order to remain ahead of the market and the ever increasing focus on computerised investing we have built an advanced AI-based investment platform so that clients can continue to compete and grow as technology changes the industry. Because we built a flexible system that can be applied in different ways and different markets, we can develop different services and products for money manager clients focusing it to their specific investment areas as an overlay tool. Our strength is that our investment signals are applicable to any investor or advisor. We can essentially plug this system into managed accounts or ETFs and plug into any platform, if anyone is looking for an enterprise solution. Our first AI-based product is a mutual fund, Wavelength Interest Rate Neutral Fund (WAVLX), and now we are rolling out a roboadvisor, Longwave Advisor, our white-labeled, digital interface for advisors and their clients, that offers access to AI-driven return predictive signals and automated portfolio management so they are not left behind as others adapt.”

1608EA59

AMPERE Gestion IF17025

Augentius Group IF17035

GROUPE CAISSE DES DÉPÔTS

Company: AMPERE Gestion Name: Vincent Mahe Email: vmahe@groupesni.fr Web: www.amperegestion -groupesni.fr Address: 100, avenue de France – 75013 Paris (France) Telephone: + 33 (0)1 55 03 30 95

Company: Augentius Group Address: Two London Bridge, London, SE1 9RA, UK Phone: +4420 7397 5450 Web: www.augentius.com

Best French Real Estate Fund (1 Year): FLI & Best Real Estate Fund Manager - France

Best PE Fund Administration Firm - UK

AMPERE Gestion

Augentius Group

AMPERE Gestion is a fund management company and subsidiary of SNI, a French leader in housing, with more than 340,000 units. We caught up with Vincent Mahe to find out more.

Augentius is one of the leading Private Equity and Real Estate solutions providers in the world. We profile the firm to explore the range of solutions it offers.

Since its creation in 2014, AMPERE has raised 2.35 bn in equity commitments, created four funds and acquired more than 10,000 residential units on behalf of its first two funds.

Established in 2002, Augentius has operational offices across Europe, Africa the US and Asia and delivers solutions to clients based in over 35 countries. Clients range from small first-time funds to some of the largest funds in the world. Working together across a range of structures, both on and off-shore, from the simplest single country structures and funds to some of the most complex multigeographic structures, all solutions and services are tailored to the specific needs of each client.

Augentius does not just provide solutions to manager. Its Investor Solutions division specifically focusses on Private Equity and Real Estate Investors – providing complex Portfolio Administration and Reporting solutions along with detailed Investment Analysis. Every solution is specifically tailored to the specific needs of each institutional investor – ranging from full banking and cash forecasting solutions to detailed full transparency reporting and analysis.

Augentius Depositary provides AIFMD compliant Depositary Solutions, from both the UK and Luxembourg to both EU and none EU managers. It now provides solutions to some of the very largest Private Equity and Real Estate funds in the world and through the solutions provided allow non EU managers to market their funds to German and Danish investors

Overall, with a dedicated team of experts, providing help and guidance to Fund Managers and Investors across the globe, Augentius provides the solutions and expertise that its clients need, when they need it.

“When we set up the FLI, this was the first French fund dedicated to intermediate housing. FLI succeeded in demonstrating that it was possible to get 17 French institutional investors to invest again on a large scale in housing outside AMPERE (which stands for ‘Asset Paris, an asset class from which Management and Private Equity for they had completely withdrawn since Real Estate’) acts exclusively in the 2005. real estate industry, with a strong emphasis in those sectors where SNI “More recently, on behalf of our and Caisse des depots can rely on a second intermediate housing fund competitive edge and demonstrate (SLI), we signed a loan agreement a strong record of successful of € 500 million with the European investment, namely housing, Investment Bank which was one emergency accommodation, hotels of the first initiatives carried out and leisure, development, public by the new European Fund for equipment and infrastructure, Strategic Investments (also known real estate portfolio management, as “Juncker plan”), and the first one property management and services in real estate.” to local authorities. Vincent outlines the innovative nature of the fund’s AMPERE is currently closing a € 200 focus and how it aims to offer a million fund (“Hemisphere”) which unique investment opportunity. will be the first French “social impact bond” of that size: acting on behalf “Real estate markets in France of the Fund, AMPERE has already have enjoyed a strong growth over secured the acquisition of 60 budget the past years, but excess cash hotels which will be converted in and liquidity creates a challenge accommodation facilities to help for asset-pricing, especially on face the migration crisis currently core markets. The heightened experienced by France in the wake of competition for core assets has the war in Syria. This will provide the led investors to find new ways of firm with many exciting opportunities taking on risk to increase return. In for future grow and expansion. this environment, AMPERE Gestion strategy is to target niche sectors, with a defensive risk-return profile supported by long-term structural drivers.

22 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

Increasingly managers are seeking to outsource the workloads regarding the expanding burden of regulatory reporting. As such, Augentius’s AIFMD and FATCA/ CRS reporting solutions continue to be in high demand from managers. Similarly, its’ Regulatory Compliance and Company Secretarial solutions take both work and risk away from managers – providing the solutions, delivered by experts that managers need

Bassett & Byers P.A.

County Cork LLC.

IF17038

IF17030

Company: Bassett & Byers P.A. Contact: Kevin Bassett Email: kbassett@bassettcpas.com Address: 3701 Lake Boone Trail, Ste 201, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27607, USA Phone: 001 919 303 1049 Website: bassettcpas.com

Company: County Cork LLC. Name: Tom Senft Email: tsenft@countycorkllc.com Web: www.countycorkllc.com Address: 5215 Old Orchard Rd. Skokie, IL. 60077 Telephone: 847-324-7392 x232

Best Corporate Tax Compliance Firm - North Carolina

Best New Managed Futures Long/Short Program: Acclivity Program & CTA of the Year 2017 - Midwest USA

Bassett & Byers P.A.

County Cork LLC.

Bassett & Byers, PA is dedicated to providing corporate tax compliance, tax planning and structuring, accounting, and consulting services exclusively to growing small– and middle-market companies throughout the United States. We profile the firm to learn more about how it supports this focused market with all its tax compliance needs.

County Cork is a registered CTA based in Illinois offering a range of strategies designed to meet the individual needs of its investors. We profile the firm and explore these strategies and how they have helped the firm to achieve the success it enjoys today.

Bassett & Byers, P.A. is a national CPA firm based in the Triangle region of North Carolina. The firm’s partners and staff have international firm, regional firm, and industry practice experience, including over 15 years in Big-Four professional services. Further, this committed and experienced team is comprised of ten Certified Public Accountants and nine additional accountants and support staff. As such, Bassett & Byers has a wealth of tax, assurance, and consulting knowledge, experience, and services unmatched by most firms in the Triangle. The firm’s focus is on corporate entities and entrepreneurs striving for growth, in the commercial real estate, venture capital/private equity, healthcare, construction and contracting, technology and restaurant sectors. It can also perform specialized services for foreign entities establishing operations in the United States.

professionals has over 100 years of combined experience with business tax issues and tax audit defense. Most of these professionals have several years of big firm experience, and they bring this big firm experience to the privately-held marketplace. Offering services across the tax preparation, tax audit defense and tax minimisation and planning spaces Bassett & Byers P.A. is able to meet clients’ every need. As testimony to the level of excellence the firm works to, it manages to reduce the effective tax paid by new clients by between 6% and 9%.

Ultimately, Bassett & Byers P.A. is committed to providing clients with the very highest standards of support and advice across the tax sector, and moving forward the firm will continue to support its staff to ensure that they remain at the forefront of emerging industry developments, and therefore able to meet the ever evolving needs of their Within the tax space, the valued clients. firm’s experienced team of tax

County Cork LLC is an Illinois Limited Liability Company registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and is a member of the National Futures Association.

through a combination of protection and performance. The strategy is a made up of a long-only basket of E-Mini S&P futures, 10 year note futures, and gold futures. Additionally, a portion of the strategy consists of a long/short currency breakout system. The strategy is governed by a proprietary systematic model that dynamically adjusts portfolio positions and weights.

The company manages a series of discretionary and systematic futures trading programs trading as separate managed accounts. The firm primarily targets Institutions, family offices and HNW individuals Finally, the Acclivity Program’s familiar with commodity markets. objective is to achieve stable portfolio growth with controlled volatility, high With three core investment risk adjusted returns, and reasonable strategies the firm is able to offer a drawdowns regardless of the variety of solutions to suit this varied economic or market environment. client base. The AG Long/Short This is achieved through a long-only strategy is a systematic program that “system of systems” comprised of uses proprietary cash price indexes 36 component models trading: US on agricultural commodities to 10yr Interest Rate Futures, Euro determine the value of a commodity Bund Futures, and E-mini S&P 500 then taking directional positions Futures. The Acclivity program is in the futures markets with the a long-only “system of systems” fundamental viewpoint that cash comprised of 36 unique component prices better represent the accurate models developed using: state of market price of a commodity. The the art artificial intelligence, machine strategy’s differentiating edge comes learning, genetic programming, from: proprietary cash price index neural network technologies, and creation, examining the “normalized” classical technical analysis. basis, proprietary systematic signal generation logic, and the use of Overall integrity, expertise and volatility overlays to manage risk. award winning products are what makes County Cork LLC stand out The Macro Equity Hedge strategy from its competitors, and moving is a systematic program designed forward it will continue to provide to produce stock market like returns these characteristics as it seeks to over time with much lower volatility build upon its current success.

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 23

InnoVen Capital

JMH Asset Management Ltd

IF17034

IF17002

Contact: Ajay Hattangdi, Group COO & CEO India Company: InnoVen Capital Address: 12th Fl, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021 Phone: 91.22.6744.6500 Email: contact@innovencapital.com Web: www.innovencapital.com

Company: JMH Asset Management Ltd Name: Johann Ropers/ Benedikt von Michel (Fund Managers) Email: info@jmham.co.uk Web: www.jmham.co.uk Address: 37 Ixworth Place, SW3 3QH London Telephone: 02075912480

Best Venture Lending Firm 2017 - Asia

InnoVen Capital InnoVen Capital is the oldest and largest venture debt firm in India, and currently the only global platform with regional focus that has the capability to lend into the largest markets across Asia and the rest of the world. We profile this dynamic company and explore the secrets behind its success. Established in 2008 under a different name, the firm was re-branded as InnoVen Capital following a buyout of the business in 2015. The platform has subsequently expanded with the setting up of the Singapore office in late-2015, and an office in Beijing which is expected to become operational in Q2 2017. InnoVen Capital has capital commitments of $200 million and a credit rating of AA- for its flagship India business. InnoVen Capital works with exceptional investors and management teams to fund leading companies through a range of venture debt solutions. Venture debt is a form of flexible debt capital which works in tandem with entrepreneurs and investors to help improve the ability of the company to increase enterprise value. The firm offers a range of debt solutions including venture loans, acquisition finance, and growth capital loans to venture equity-backed startups and bootstrapped growth companies. The typical ticket sizes range from $250k to $5 million and selectively go up to $7.5 million. InnoVen Capital also runs a Credit Assistance program through which the firm arranges for conventional bank financing for more mature companies in the portfolio.

Since inception, InnoVen Capital has backed over 100 leading high growth venture capital-backed companies with loan commitments exceeding $200 million. The portfolio includes marquee names like Swiggy, Yatra, Byju’s, Snapdeal, Freecharge, Myntra, Oyo, Practo, Capillary, Voonik, Pomelo Fashion, Conversant Solutions, and 123RF among others. Looking to the future, barriers to entry that have stood for decades are melting away. Every incumbent business is vulnerable to competition and disruption. InnoVen Capital is not immune to these changes which are perhaps happening at a more rapid pace in India and across Asia than have happened in the past in other markets. Widening its business model to include new ways of engaging the ecosystem through more than just venture debt will enable InnoVen to stay competitive and also tap into additional opportunities provided by the dynamic nature of the Asian venture ecosystem which is integrating swiftly. InnoVen Capital will also continue to push forward by continuing to grow its presence across the region with a new office in China in the coming months.

24 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

Best FoHF Strategy (3 Years): JMH Absolute Return SICAV SIF

JMH Asset Management Ltd JMH Asset Management (JMHAM) is an absolute return manager with a specific focus on being uncorrelated to the vagaries of the broader markets. We profile the firm and explore the secrets behind its success. Founded in 2013, JMH Asset Management is a private investment firm that manages alternative investments for its partners and like-minded clients. The firm is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and based in London.

This includes a broad range of direct lending strategies which offer a regular stream of “carry”, and various relative value, arbitrage or market making strategies formerly adopted by the investment banks’ prop desks. Furthermore, JMHAM takes a belt-and-braces approach to risk by being long volatility and Within the investment market hence providing protection in case currently, conventional equity/ bond correlations spike in an extreme asset allocation model is becoming market sell-off. increasingly ineffectual. After a thirtyyear bull market in bonds and with Traditional asset classes are in many yields now in negative territory, JMHAM’s view unable to offer an equities and bonds are unlikely to appropriate returns for the risks continue working as effective offsets being taken. Furthermore, the to each other. When equities fall, vast majority of managers fail to traditional government bonds will beat their most relevant index not act as much of a counterbalance benchmarks on a consistent basis. any longer. JMHAM has therefore JMHAM therefore believe there to created an alternative fixed income be a better opportunity in seeking portfolio to replace the function out less crowded strategies. When historically adopted by traditional it comes to investing in alternatives, fixed income. It produces interest or they avoid the more traditional areas “carry” to act as a performance buffer such as equity long/ short and global whilst generating a return profile that macro. Instead, JMHAM’s universe is not correlated to the equity risk in consists mostly of “alternative a portfolio. alternatives”, typically in highly specific and specialised niches. The firm achieves this by investing in uncorrelated niche strategies Overall, JMHAM target a high single which tap into an exciting structural digit return stream with a very low opportunity set. The team cherry correlation to both equity and fixed picks the most attractive activities income markets and downside which the banks have been forced protection in times of stress, in order to shrink down on account of to ensure its investors encounter the increasing levels of regulation. lowest possible risk.

Mediterra Capital

Mirova

IF17024

IF17039

Company: Mediterra Capital Address: Sehit Halil Ibrahim Cad. No: 39 Istinye 34460 Sariyer Istanbul Turkey Phone: +90 (212) 323 54 00 Fax: +90 (212) 323 54 46 Email: info@mediterracapital.com Web: www.mediterracapital.com

Company: Mirova Contact: Emna Baklouti Email: emna.baklouti@mirova.com Address: 21 quai d’Austerlitz, Paris, 75013, France Phone: 0033 1 78 40 32 74

Best Mid- Market PE Firm - Turkey

Best European Diversified Bond Fund (Since Inception): Mirova Euro Sustainable Aggregate Fund

Mediterra Capital

Mirova

Mediterra Capital is an independent private equity firm focused on investing in Turkish companies. We profile the firm and explore how it came to achieve its current, market leading success.

Mirova is an asset management company dedicated to sustainable investing, with an aim to combine impact and performance for its clients, across a range of investment strategies in fixed income, listed equities, infrastructure and impact investing as well as engagement and voting services. We invited Emna Baklouti to tell us more.

Established in 2011, Mediterra is now the leading private equity firm focusing on the mid-market and SME sector in Turkey. The firm acts as a trusted partner for mid-market and SME companies in Turkey, supporting them to become industry leaders with global management practices. Mediterra’s exclusive investment adviser Mediterra Private Equity Limited employs a world class team that has global private equity experience as well as Turkish deal making experience, with investment professionals from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Lehman Brothers, Bedminster Capital and İş Private Equity. Team has served more than 30 boards in 11 countries, and invested over $2.0 billion globally and over $900 million of equity capital in Turkey. Mediterra is actively investing in midmarket companies with enterprise values ranging from €€25 million to € € 200 million, geographically focusing on broader Turkey particularly to Anatolian businesses and targeting export driven industrial companies as well as domestic consumer demand driven sectors. Mediterra’s partners have a mix of international and local private equity experience and include market leaders such as KKR, Lehman Brothers, Bedminster Capital Management and Is Private Equity, enabling it to offer the very

best solutions on the market and leverage their expertise and reach. There are many benefits to investing in Turkey, which Mediterra aims to take advantage of. Although Turkey does have a very competent and well capitalized banking system, Turkish businesses are in general short of equity capital to finance the economic strong growth of c. 4% p.a. as the country have a young population and low savings rate. Due to this lack of equity, banks also provide relatively modest levels of credit to SMEs. This creates very attractive investment opportunities for financial investors. In addition, investee company’s customers and suppliers are in many instances undercapitalized, making customer/ supplier credit risk and cash flow management one of the key challenges for many businesses. Ultimately, with extensive know-how obtained from 30+ investments in 11 countries, Mediterra Capital has the experience, knowledge and reach to support investors around the world. The firm’s ongoing goal is to remain the leading mid-market private equity investor in Turkey by any means.

Mirova is an asset manager whose approach is designed to combine financial and ESG (environmental, social and government) research. Emna outlines the benefits of the firm’s ESG driven approach, discussing how it provides the firm’s varied clients, who include institutional investors, companies, private banks, retail banks and other distribution networks, with the best possible returns.

allows us to identify the solutions needed to face those challenges and harvest opportunities. This research also allows us to better identify the companies offering those solutions, a group that is predicted to outperform the broad market over the next decade.”

This focus on remaining at the forefront of emerging industry developments will continue moving forward, as Mirova looks to build “At Mirova, security selection is at the upon its current success and take heart of the process with sustainability advantage of the latest trends in the driving alpha. We believe that the industry as Emna concludes. winners of tomorrow are companies positioned on solutions for “Within the wider investment market, sustainable development challenges we believe that the emergence of and that investors and markets often the Green Bonds market is a very take a short term view and fail to positive trend, and Mirova is well appreciate the way companies factor positioned to contribute to this in these challenges. Long term vision trend by investing in these types of such as the one Mirova chooses to issues: By independently analyzing adopt is an attribute essential for each Green Bond from an ESG long term success and stable client and financial point of view, Mirova service. It is this approach which, we can discover value in the market believe, is vital for the success of any while building a bond portfolio with company in our sector. a significant environmental impact. Mirova furthermore meets issuers “Our use of ESG analysis helps us before investing in a Green Bond to better understand the challenges program and commits to monitoring and opportunities caused by investments through an annual long term megatrends, as well as review of each bond in order to allowing us to stay at the forefront ensure the proper use of funds of emerging developments. It also raised.”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 25

PC Capital

Prime Meridian Capital Management

IF17008

IF17009

Company: PC Capital Name: Pablo Cervantes Email: pcervantes@pc-capital.com Web: www.pc-capital.com Address: Av. Paseo de la Reforma 2654, Mexico City. CP: 11950 Telephone: 5257-4991

Company: Prime Meridian Capital Management Name: Don Davis Web: www.pmifunds.com

Growth Equity Fund Manager of the Year - Mexico

PC Capital PC Capital is a Private Equity and Investment Banking firm formed by individuals with vast experience in their industry. Pablo Cervantes provides us with an overview of the firm and its fund, the Mexico Development Fund I.

PC Capital is a Mexico City based financial firm offering one fund, the Mexico Development Fund I, a growth fund investing in SMEs requiring working capital injections to fuel unmet demand for their products and capital investments to replicate already proven business concepts. The firm works with a strong investor base ranging from family offices to Multinational Development Banks and Funds of Funds. Pablo discusses the fund in greater detail and outlines its proactive investor approach. “Here at PC Capital, we currently offer only one fund, Mexico Development Fund I, which makes private equity investments in proven business models and extraordinary managers. We manage risk by constantly monitoring our portfolio company’s activities and have important rolls with in each Company Board.”

firm’s upcoming plans, which revolve around growth and expansion. “In the future we are keen to build upon our current success, and as such we are preparing to launch our first Real Estate Fund in 2017. “Within our region we foresee many challenges ahead, as Mexico’s GDP is expected to grow at a very slow rate in 2017 with major challenges including low cost of oil, on which Mexico significantly depends, the imminent rise of interest rates, US dollar appreciation as well as President’s Trump approach to the NAFTA. As of now, all most every industry in Mexico is on standby, expectant to how Mr. Trump will react on his first days of presidency. Whatever the future has in store, here at PC Capital we are keen to continue offering the very highest standard of service and investment products to our clients.”

Looking ahead, Pablo is excited for the future as he discusses the 26 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

Best Peer-to-Peer Lending Fund (Since Inception): Prime Meridian Income Fund & Best Investment Management Firm 2017 - Western USA

Prime Meridian Capital Management Prime Meridian Capital Management is a specialty asset manager dedicated to the P2P/Marketplace Lending industry. We spoke to Managing Partner and Founder, Don Davis to find out more. Founded in 2012, Prime Meridian Capital Management’s Funds are the only known family of pure-play strategies dedicated to the P2P/ Marketplace Lending space in the U.S.A. The firm offers a variety of funds that provide investors with access to professionally managed, short-duration, high yield loan portfolios focused on each of the primary lending verticals of consumer, small business, and real estate lending. Don explains how the firm manages risk within its myriad of funds and investment products, ensuring strong returns for investors. “Here at Prime Meridian Capital Management we manage risk by staying true to quality lending, strong diversification (our Income fund alone has over 16,000 loans, across dozens of vintages), consistent portfolio construction, conservative valuation, and disciplined service providers. Our clients are often like us in that they appreciate a quality, transparent investment that is unique relative to the many other more common investments they own, and therefore we work hard to provide such a service for them at all times.” Overall, while originating well over $20 Billion of loans in 2016, the P2P/Marketplace Lending

industry is still in its early stages of development. The Industry is anticipated to continue to grow rapidly due to the increasing demand for faster and more transparent loans that are provided by online loan originators. Don concludes by discussing the many opportunities this invigorating space provides for firms such as Prime Meridian Capital Management. “The future for Marketplace Lending is very bright. While there are always challenges along the way, the superior characteristics of the industry’s product should continue to draw borrowers and investors alike to this opportunity, and we are excited for the opportunities that this dynamic space will bring us moving forward.”

S.E.A. Asset Management Pte Ltd

SFPI-FPIM

IF17010

IF17023

Company: S.E.A. Name: Alexander Zeeh Email: alexander.zeeh@ seagroup.com.sg Web: www.seagroup.com.sg Address: 230 Orchard Road, #10-232 Faber House, Singapore 238854 Telephone: + 65 6732 4864

Company: Federal Holding and Investment Company (SFPI-FPIM) Name: Koen Van Loo Email: k.vanloo@sfpi-fpim.be Web: www.sfpi-fpim.be Address: Avenue Louise 32/4, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium) Telephone:00 32 2 548 52 11

Best Fund Management Boutique - South East Asia

S.E.A. Asset Management Pte Ltd S.E.A. Asset Management is a Singapore based working with family offices, external asset managers, independent financial advisors and high net worth clients. We caught up with Alexander Zeeh to find out more. Founded in 2007, S.E.A. Asset Management is an independent financial services firm providing customised asset and fund management solutions to a range of private and institutional clients. Alexander discusses the firm’s core strength; its innovative product offering. “Here at S.E.A. Asset Management, we differentiate ourselves on a product level. All our funds are completely unconstrained and benchmark free. Through this approach we avoid the overcrowded “me-too” areas of the market that tend to become overvalued eventually from the standard product suite offering of the mainstream fund houses. Contrary to these houses we can seek out market niches and find and invest in hidden gems. “Our unique niche flagship product, the S.E.A. Asian High Yield Bond Fund is the only fund of its kind that invests exclusively into Asian short duration high yield bonds with a UCITS SICAV structure providing daily liquidity. The bottom up, buy to hold strategy of this fund ensures low transaction costs and maximise sharp ratio. Investing in short duration high yield bonds gives

investors best fixed income return and optimal protection from rising interest rates.” Operating in Singapore offers S.E.A. Asset Management a number of great opportunities, as the market still offers tremendous chances for independent asset managers. Moving forward, the increasing regulatory burden on private banks will only drive the departures of more relationship managers from private banks to start their own asset management firm. Overall the fund, and the firm itself, look set to go from strength to strength, as Alexander proudly concludes. “Looking ahead, our aim is to increase the AUM of the S.E.A. Asian High Yield Bond Fund to more than 50 mln USD in 2017. The fund will have completed its first three years of track record in March 2018 after which we will start road showing in Europe and Asia. In 2017 we will be at Funds Excellence in June in Frankfurt and we are planning to attend Fund Selector in Singapore in October. All of these exciting plans will provide us with great opportunities which we look forward to taking advantage of.”

Best State Development PE Portfolio: Federal Holding & Investment Company

SFPI-FPIM The Federal Holding and Investment Company was created on 1 November 2006 as a result of a merger between the Federal Participation Company and the Federal Investment Company (SFPI-FPIM). They centrally manage the federal government’s shareholdings, cooperates with the government on specific projects and pursues its own investment policy in the interests of the Belgian economy. We recently spoke to Koen Van Loo to tell us more about the firm. SFPI-FPIM is a Belgian state-owned investment company targeting amongst others the new economy, strategic assets and infrastructure, the aeronautical sector, in the interest of the Belgian economy. SFPI invests over 100 million EUR per year, mostly through equity stakes, sometimes in combination with (mezzanine) loans. Smaller companies are usually targeted through fund of fund investments. As Koen explains, the state of the finance industry within Belgium is growing, allowing for a number of exciting opportunities.

SFPI wants to position itself as “solution-minded, patient (long term) and flexible investor”, constantly extending its external reputation and network and its internal expertise.” Behind every successful company is a powerful ensemble of innovative individuals, and helping Federal Holding and Investment to achieve these ambitions are the dedicated team that they employ. Koen informs us of the qualities that they look for within their employees. “The values that we favour the most are loyalty, flexibility and commitment. There is no individual compensation based on success: flexibility and team spirit are therefore very important. We are a small team and the complementarity of the profiles is essential.”

“At the moment, financing sources seem to be sufficient in Belgium for early stage companies and startups, however, there is less funding available for growth financing. As an open economy, Belgium is very closely linked to all major international developments (US, Looking ahead, Koen envisions that China, India, and so on).” future will see the company continue to grow and develop in accordance Working within such a fast-paced with the Belgian economy. industry, it is important for a firm to ensure they remain on the cutting “The main goals we aim to achieve edge of developments, as Koen for Federal Holding and Investment emphasises. is to intensify our presence within the target sectors and grow profitably, “One of the ways in which we building upon a strong balance remain at the forefront of emerging sheet. Ensuring that these goals developments in the industry is by are achieved is our small team of being visible within the network. dedicated individuals.”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 27

Shavit Capital

TPT Retirement Solutions

IF17019

IF17018

Company: Shavit Capital Name: Gary Leibler Email: gary@shavitcapital.com Web: www.shavitcapital.com Address: Jerusalem Technology Park – Malcha Derech Agudat Sport HaPo’el 1, Box 70 Jerusalem, Israel 9695101 Telephone: +972 2 649 0400

Company: TPT Retirement Solutions Name: Billy Wheeler Email: DBcomplete@tpt.org.uk Web: www.tpt.org.uk Address: Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds LS11 5BQ Telephone: 0113 394 2686

Best Late Stage Investment Firm - Israel

Best DB Pension Provider 2017 – UK

Shavit Capital

TPT Retirement Solutions

Shavit Capital is an investment firm that specializes in late-stage investments in Israeli companies. Gary Leibler, Founder and Managing Partner, outlines the firm and its investment philosophy. Founded in 2008, Shavit Capital has over $200 million under management across four separate private equity funds. These Funds invest in Israeli companies with proven technologies, products, markets and strong management teams. The Funds invest in equity mezzanine or bridge rounds in companies which subsequently expect to raise relatively larger amounts pursuant to an IPO on a major international public exchange or a dual listing of a company that trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

investors with minimum risk, through strong downside protection terms, emphasis on liquidity, and inclusion of long term warrants in each of our deals.” “Investment discipline is the key to any successful fund. We have clearly-defined investment criteria which we do not compromise on. Since its inception, Shavit Capital has witnessed bull and bear markets, booms and busts. Valuations of companies change dramatically and we have seen different situations in the public markets that either allowed or did not allow companies to execute on their IPO plans, but our investors were at all times protected by our downside protection provisions and able to maximise upside through the exercise warrants that we receive as a part of any of Shavit Capital’s investment.”

In addition, the firm also invests in other late-stage opportunities, especially through PIPEs (Private Investments in Public Equities) of Israeli publicly-traded companies. Gary discusses the firm’s funds and how their approach aims to create value for investors. Its investor base includes financial institutions and the chairmen, CEOs and managing partners of investment banks, Looking ahead, the firm’s recently underwriters, and multi-billion-dollar created fourth fund will provide it with hedge funds. many great opportunities to further support investors, as Gary proudly “Central to our strategy is that we concludes. aim to minimize risk and maximize returns by exploiting the opportunities “Recently we raised our fourth fund generated by acquiring minority and are recognised as the primary positions in Israeli companies with address for any late-stage Israeli proven technologies, products, company that is attempting to raise markets and strong management its last round of finance before an teams. In addition, we place high IPO or an exit. This will provide us importance on the way we structure with many great opportunities for our deals. We maximize returns for growth going forward.”

28 Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017

TPT Retirement Solutions is an experienced provider of bundled high quality workplace pensions to more than 2,400 organisations and over 260,000 members with assets under management of around £9bn. The firm is a not-for-profit organisation, so they have no shareholders and are run purely for the benefit of their members. Recently we spoke to TPT Retirement Solutions’ Chief Executive Mike Ramsey about the work of the firm and the clients with whom they work. TPT Retirement Solutions DB Complete product reduces the amount of time and money a client needs to spend running their defined benefit (DB) legacy pension scheme, whilst maintaining a high level of professional governance under their DB Master Trust arrangement. Mike explains how this solution provides all the services required to run such a scheme successfully.

“We offer two investments options within DB Complete. The first is our Dynamic Portfolio, for those wanting a more sophisticated and diversified investment approach. This portfolio provides access to a wide range of assets, including alternative growth assets, which helps reduce volatility risk. The second, our Simplified Portfolio provides a low cost, mainly passive, index-tracking investment approach. Both options also provide “As DB specialists, we’ve been access to LDI solutions, within the keeping pensions simple, accessible matching assets, which control and easy to understand for over interest and inflation rate risk.” 70 years. Our combined size and strength with more than £9 billion Looking ahead, TPT Retirement worth of assets enable the schemes Solutions shows no sign of slowing within TPT Retirement Solutions down, instead taking pride in the to benefit from our economies of accomplishments they have made scale. Our research indicates that to date and planning for the future in we can typically save at least 30% order to continue their success. on the total costs of running a DB scheme, and the size of TPT means “We are very confident that there is that we can provide innovative and a significant market amongst legacy cost effective solutions for those DB pension schemes for our DB who face a challenge with their Complete product; since launch, legacy DB pension arrangements. DB Complete has already secured TPT Retirement Solutions access a scheme with £40m AUM and 400 institutional funds at wholesale new members, and TPT is currently prices, with cutting edge investments in advanced talks with several other and strategies.” schemes.” In more detail, Mike explains the approach he takes to ensure the best possible returns for investors.

UB Real Asset Management Ltd

Wolverine Asset Management. LLC

IF17013

IF17033

Company: UB Real Asset Management Ltd Web: www.ubrealassets.com Address: Aleksanterinkatu 21 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland Telephone: +358 9 2538 0300

Company: Wolverine Asset Management, LLC Name: Asha Olasa, CAIA – Director of Marketing and Investor Relations Email: aolasa@wolvefunds.com Web: www.wolvefunds.com Address: 175 W. Jackson, Suite 340 Telephone: 312.884-3101

Best Emerging Market REIT Equity Fund (3 Years): UB REIT Asia Plus & Best Investment Manager 2017 - Finland

Best US Focused Relative Value Hedge Fund: #Wolverine Flagship Fund & Best International Alternative Asset Manager 2017 - Illinois

UB Real Asset Management Ltd

Wolverine Asset Management, LLC

UB Real Asset Management Ltd is a leading Nordic investment manager with a focus on listed real assets. Managing Director and portfolio manager Mr. Aki Kostiander tells us more.

Wolverine Asset Management, LLC (WAM) is an alternative asset management firm headquartered in Chicago. We caught up with Director of Marketing and Investor Relations, Asha Olasa, to find out more.

UB Real Asset Management Ltd (UB Real Assets) is a leading Nordic investment manager with a focus on listed real assets. UB Real Assets is a subsidiary of the United Bankers Group (UB) which is listed on First North Finland (Nasdaq Helsinki) since 2014. Aki outlines the range of investment options the firm offers for its clients and how it works to ensure they receive the very best solutions on the market.

infrastructure companies globally as well as asset allocation within the real assets investment universe. We do not track any indices and our goal is to generate attractive returns with a focus on risk management.” Looking to the future, Aki emphasises UB Group’s ongoing focus on high quality asset management within the real assets sector. “In order to stay at the forefront of our industry our investment process and our products are designed to be transparent and cost efficient. Development of our product and services solutions corresponds to meeting the highest standards of the needs of institutional investors.”

“Here at UB Real Assets, we offer real assets investment solutions to investors as a way to both protect against inflation and to deliver sufficient real returns over the long term. We have over a decade long history of managing global listed real asset portfolios with a smart beta “Due to our focus on a niche asset approach.” class and being a Finnish asset manager our customer base is “Our investment philosophy is currently mainly Nordic institutional based on a quantitative investment investors, but we hope to reach out approach that focuses on smart beta to European investors within the next strategies within our asset class. few years”. Our expertise ranges from REITs to

Established in 2001, WAM seeks to generate absolute returns by investing in the equity, credit, commodity, and volatility asset classes. The investor base includes sophisticated institutional clients such as pension funds, endowments, foundations, and fund of funds. Asha discusses the firm’s product offering and how it helps clients meet their investment objectives.

year history. This success is attributable to its emphasis on continuous improvement and pursuit of new investment opportunities. WAM also continues to make significant investments in cutting edge technology. This on-going investment, coupled with a culture of innovation, is the life blood that allows WAM to develop new capabilities to help investors achieve their investment objectives, as Asha “The Wolverine Flagship Fund concludes. invests in high barrier-to-entry relative-value strategies. Our “WAM is very excited about the portfolio managers take advantage future and the opportunity set. of a highly developed technology Over the past three years we have infrastructure that incorporates invested heavily in both people and proprietary analytics. This technology, which resulted in the technology plays a vital role in development of new strategies in how we can exploit dislocations the credit, mortgage and volatility in both volatility and basis. Risk asset classes; as well as enhancing management is equally central to existing strategies as evidenced by our approach, beginning with trading the release of our next generation and position limits coded into our Capital Structure Arbitrage valuation execution infrastructure.” model. We have expanded our capacity to take risk with a broader WAM has successfully adapted universe of instruments and are to changing environments and excited for the opportunities this will market conditions over its 15+- bring for our firm.”

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 29

Join 108,000 Subscribers in Over 170 Countries What are you Waiting for? www.acquisition-intl.com/subscribe