LGT Group completes purchase of Clariden Leu insurance-linked investment business

Private banking and asset management firm LGT Group have announced the completion of their acquisition of the insurance-linked investment business of Clariden Leu. The acquisition, which we first announced in March, see’s LGT Group take over the insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bond and insurance-linked investment funds that Clariden Leu have operated along with the team who managed them. This allows LGT to expand their offering and diversify their field of business, while acquiring one of the teams with the best track records in the ILS investment space.

The takeover completed yesterday, 31st May, and saw the transfer of all of the Clariden Leu insurance-linked investment business to LGT Capital Management with invested assets totalling $2 billion. The purchase price has not been disclosed. LGT becomes the investment manager and distributor for the four insurance-linked investment fund structures which were previously operated by Clariden Leu. Each of the funds has had its name changed to reflect the sale, see below.

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As you can see above, one of the funds maintains a link to Credit Suisse through the name which suggests that they keep some sort of interest in it. (Update: This has been clarified for us. The Luxembourg fund will retain Credit Suisse in its name for regulatory reasons and will eventually transition to be called ‘LGT (Lux) I – Cat Bond Fund’ within a few months).

LGT Capital Management CEO Torsten de Santos, said; “We are delighted to have completed this transaction, which further bolsters our position as a provider of focused asset management solutions, very quickly and without any problems. Now the team is on site, we can work together to achieve further growth in this asset class.”

Michael Stahel, Head of Insurance-Linked Strategies pointed out, “The effective collaboration of the past few months has vindicated our view that LGT Capital Management will allow us to maintain our successful investment strategies in their existing form. Our investors are also convinced that this is the case, and we are very grateful for the trust they have placed in us in recent weeks.”

The ILS team of fund managers, analysts and sales people moves to the LGT Capital Management offices in Pfäffikon, Zurich today. We wish them the best of luck in the new operational structure. Now the team can concentrate on maintaining the existing funds for their investors and working on the two new ILS fund structures which are planned.