Universal Investment Group said on 27 September it has launched joint venture with Alumia, to complement its position in the fund services and Super Manco sector with dedicated fund distribution power.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, Alumia is a MiFID regulated investment advisory firm launched to provide clients with access to high quality and innovative investment strategies.
Alumia advises a range of sophisticated clients including asset managers and asset owners such as corporates and family offices.
Alumia's CEO David Saab has a 20-year career in banking and asset management at JP Morgan, Rothschild, and more recently as co-founder alongside with Peter Kraus of Aperture Investors.
Saab said: "For asset managers, building an experienced and global sales force, while meeting regulatory requirements and also using digital channels, has steadily become more challenging and costly."
Alumia's management holds the majority of the shares. Universal Investment Group is the founding partner of the joint venture, with a significant minority stake.
Universal Investment's chief customer officer Katja Müller said: "Active distribution capabilities are a key differentiator for Third-Party ManCos and AIFMs such as Universal Investment Group.
"Partnering with Alumia is therefore an important milestone in our approach to further expand our existing distribution capabilities and boost our attractiveness as a fund service platform and ManCo."
The company has already made significant investments in its own fund distribution team targeting institutional investors in the German-speaking region.
Alumia contributes to this with active distribution also in France, Benelux, Southern Europe and internationally, the statement further said.
Alumia is a partner-led investment firm that "specialises in providing investment advice through an innovative approach", serving a broad range of clients, including family offices, pension funds and endowments.
Universal Investment Group is a European fund service platform and Super ManCos with around €987bn in assets under administration, about 2,000 fund and investment mandates and a workforce of more than 1,700 at locations in Frankfurt am Main, Luxembourg, Dublin, London, Paris, Stockholm, Hamburg and Krakow.
