Unigestion, an independent, specialist asset manager, has already deployed over 40 per cent of its second direct private equity fund after closing at over EUR600 million.
Unigestion Direct II (UDII), which provides investors with access to a portfolio of direct investments in high quality small and mid-market companies, has invested in 12 companies located across Europe and the US. These companies play long-term growth themes such as Nutrition, Tech-enabled services and Healthtech and are therefore less sensitive to GDP. They include a Spanish provider of flavourings for vegetarian and vegan food, a US leading developer of specialty precision components for medical devices and a Swiss innovation leader in optical sensors for elevators, escalators and automatic doors.
UDII is Unigestion’s first private equity fund to be compliant with Article 8 of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Introduced in March 2021, the SFDR aims to make the sustainability profile of funds more comparable and better understood by investors. Article 8 specifically promotes environmental and social characteristics of investments. In this sense, the vast majority of portfolio companies in UDII will have economic activities that make a positive contribution to at least one of the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Unigestion’s global private equity team of 50 professionals source direct investment opportunities from its network of c450 investment partners, including specialist fund managers, fundless sponsors and other industry experts, as well as directly from business owners. With over 20 years’ experience of direct investing, the team undertakes both co-investments and co-lead/lead deals, alongside its preferred small and mid-market fund managers as well as other investment partners in Europe, North America and Asia.
Unigestion has also continued to build out its direct private equity capabilities to support its growth. It has promoted Pieter-Jan Frederix and Ralph Buchel to Private Equity Partner, reflecting their success at sourcing, executing and exiting investments. In addition, Philipp Scheier, who has over 12 years of buyout experience, has joined the team as a Principal in Zurich, while John Welch recently joined the team as a vice president in Jersey City and Ryan Lim has joined as an analyst in Singapore.
In addition, Unigestion has established an Industry Advisory Board, comprised of senior business leaders, to support its direct investment activity. Ueli Dietiker, a former CFO of Swisscom and CEO of Cablecom, and Richard Peretz, most recently CFO of UPS, have agreed to join this board. Federico Schiffrin, previously a Private Equity Partner in the team, has now transitioned to become a member of this Board, and continues to support Unigestion’s direct investment activity in the US.
Christophe de Dardel, Head of Private Equity, Unigestion, says: “We have built a strong track record of investing in small and mid-market companies over the past 20 years, targeting businesses that are often below the radar of other investors. This is a specialised skill and we are delighted to have achieved our goals with the fundraise for UDII. The quality of the portfolio that we have already built for UDII is testament to our ability to source highly attractive deals in this environment.
“A strong, experienced team is critical to this work and we are delighted to have promoted some of our talented team members, as well as to have welcomed new additions. The creation of our Industry Advisory Board also strengthens our capabilities, giving us access to the expertise of senior business figures such as Ueli Dietiker and Richard Peretz, as well as to the investment experience of Federico Schiffrin.”
