Galileo Capital Management, a new boutique investment management and advisory firm, has launched and will serve clients worldwide through its operations in London and Hong Kong.

Galileo Capital Management, founded by Anders Jacobsen and Paul Thompson, will launch, manage and raise capital for alternative asset funds, the new firm said in a statement to the press.

“We have identified a number of investment strategies in niche areas offering a low correlation to markets that are still significantly untapped,” said Mr Thompson, co-founder and principal.

The planned funds will focus on very under-invested business sectors or improvements of existing investment strategies.

Anders Jacobsen, the other co-founder and principal, added: “The future of Galileo will witness niche positioning and effective maximization of opportunity in markets that are quite unexplored to date. Our strategy will pick up in areas which the market has traditionally dropped off its radar screen.” 

The new firm will also provide advice on business entry strategies into China, including sourcing suitable business partners and execution.

Mr Thompson has much experience of the investment funds sector, focusing on Asia in the last 10 years. Most recently he was managing director of SGI-management in Hong Kong and previously he was the chief executive of a Chinese asset management operation. His career also included working for Goldman Sachs in London.

Mr Jacobsen gained over 10 years experience as a derivatives fund manager, working as a principal of Bankers Trust Investment Management where he was a trading desk and portfolio swaps risk book manager. Prior he worked at the Chase Manhattan Bank where he was a director of the Portfolio Strategies Group.

As a precursor to Galileo Capital Management, Mr Jacobsen formed Galileo Consulting in 2004, providing business and funding strategy consultancy to asset management companies.

“The recent financial crisis has underlined the importance of China and more broadly of Asia as a source of growth and key determinant in the global economy,” said Mr Thompson.

“We will also be able to incorporate China-related growth opportunities into our fund offerings as appropriate, giving us an edge in developing a superior investment fund offering.”