Lemanik Asset Management
An asset manager with flawless ambition
As one might expect of its Swiss origins and the private banking background of its founders, the ever-discreet Lemanik is now one of the leading asset management companies for third parties in Luxembourg and continues to focus on double digit growth. Interview.
Can you briefly present Lemanik Asset Management?
Lemanik’s history is long. The company was founded in 1971 in Switzerland. I met the founders, along with my colleague Jean Philippe Claessans during our years working in private banking and we joined the company in 2006. The group’s capital is a real advantage: our capital of more than 20 million euros offers unparalleled stability because it remains under the control of past shareholders and its executives. Our independence has always been a strength: we are not linked to a banking group or a private equity fund. Moreover, I think that our continued double digit growth is based on our entrepreneurial spirit: we are very close to our clients and when regulations change, we have demonstrated our ability to identify the challenges facing our clients to provide them with satisfactory, pragmatic solutions. This proactive and solution-oriented approach is very much appreciated. Philippe often says: “Lemanik makes a business opportunity out of regulations.”
How did you exceed 20 billion euros under management, with what was initially a small team?
In addition to our independence, we have been and continue to be, above all, visionaries. 10 years ago, the regulatory market focused on the provision of independent directors and management companies linked to a single fund. We were the first to create a regulatory solution for management companies for third parties, a model which has been widely copied since. Meanwhile, we have slowly recruited a team with impressive address books. Hervé Coussement joined us in 2012 and has helped us to build our reputation with a broader range of institutional clients. Furthermore, we have managed to stay very close to our clients, wherever they are in the world. I cannot count the number of intercontinental flights taken following a single phone call and I must say this has been a very successful approach for us. Some of the clients we’ve met in this way have become cornerstones of our business! Moreover, the quality of our teams and our operational efficiency have been key factors in building customer loyalty. Today we are among the leaders and we intend to stay there by focusing on two areas: firstly by strengthening our multi-jurisdictional development, including through the expansion our Dublin office and also by focusing on alternative investment strategies, an area in which we are doing particularly well.
What are your plans in alternative investments?
We had three options to position ourselves: recruiting a specialist, acquiring a company or hiring a team of experts. We chose the third option with the clear idea of establishing ourselves as a major player. “Third-party AIFMs are in the process of becoming a favoured solution, both for fund promoters who have never been regulated and who want to concentrate on their core business, which is to say management, and larger players, particularly Americans, who have no presence in Europe and want to benefit from the marketing passport of their third-party AIFM,” according to Alexandre Dumont, the head of new alternative positioning at Lemanik. It’s is a growing industry and we are the first significantly sized company to consolidate a UCITS and AIFM solution under the same name in Luxembourg and Ireland. With our ambition and the team we have in place, I think conditions are right to be able to continue our development in “fast forward” mode.