Stockholm (NordSIP) – Alquity announced it had sold a 10% stake to East Capital Group, launching a strategic partnership focused on synergies and scale. The two organisations will cooperate on business development and distribution in European markets, as well as on fund operations. The partnership aims to strengthen sustainable investments, impact and improve ESG practices through the creation of a joint ESG and Impact Council.
East Capital Asset Management SA in Luxembourg will be the management company overseeing Alquity’s administration and custody services. The investment gives East Capital’s developed market, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-aligned, Espiria fund family a partner in the UK. Alquity also has a strong pipeline of next-generation products that will increasingly deploy quantitative tools, machine learning, and AI in identifying and measuring ESG and Impact.
“We’re proud that Alquity, which is renowned for its high-quality ESG and impact work, has chosen to partner with East Capital Group,” Albin Rosengren, Managing Partner of East Capital Group, said. “Our operational excellence, our ESG efforts, and especially our achievements in emerging and frontier markets provide an excellent platform for cooperation with Alquity.”
Alquity is a responsible investment manager which links listed equities and impact. The investment is part of Alquity broader strategy to target over US$3bn in assets under management (AUM), and a ten-fold increase in its revenues within five years. In parallel, Alquity also secured the investment and backing from Martin Gilbert, the former CEO and co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management, and the founders of Investible, Australia’s leading seed-stage investor.
“What is critical for our business is the bridge between listed equities and impact. We conceived of this approach ten years ago and now, supported by our partnership with East Capital Group and the backing of the founders of Investible and of Martin Gilbert, we want to start scaling billions of dollars of listed investments towards impact. This will bring benefits to companies and communities, to our clients and our shareholders,” Brad Crombie, CEO of Alquity, added.
“Megatrends in ESG and impact such as decarbonisation, gender equality, and the circular economy, coupled with structural growth and booming demographics in emerging markets will shape the next ten years towards the Sustainable Development Goals,” Paul Robinson, Founder, and Chairman of Alquity said. “Investors will no longer accept short term alpha if it compromises long term beta. We all believe that now is the right time to seize this moment to scale through our differentiated offer.”
In 2020, the Nordic hedge fund strategy Adrigo also joined East Capital Group, which today consists of four wholly-owned management operations; East Capital, East Capital Real Estate, Espiria, and Adrigo.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
