The latest moves and appointments in wealth management in the UK, the rest of Europe, the Middle East and other select locations.

Coupland Cardiff Asset Management  
Independent Asian Equities boutique, Coupland Cardiff Asset Management LLP (CCAM), has announced that it has expanded its investment team and capabilities with the appointment of a new Global Emerging Markets (GEM) Equity team.

Jonathan Asante, lead fund manager, an established emerging markets investor and one of Stewart Investors’ previous managing partners, will be joined by his former Stewart Investors team members Chris Grey, Joanna Kay, Tom Prew and Dominic St George.

Grey, St George and Prew have all been senior analysts and lead managers. Kay, formerly a Stewart Investors board member, will be responsible for non-investment aspects of the business. Grey will be working from the US with the UK-based team.

Commenting on the change, James Tollemache, chief executive of CCAM, said: “Jonathan and the team have demonstrated their investment process can deliver across several emerging market cycles and it has been used in a variety of ways by investors. It is gratifying that we can give investors access to this dynamic team once more within the environment we have at CCAM, based on ownership and partnership.”

Jonathan Asante added: “We have learned that our investment philosophy, focused on preserving clients’ money in order to grow it better in the long term, is simple to understand but hard to implement. Having spent considerable time looking for the right long-term partner with the appropriate institutional structure, we feel fortunate to have found this in Coupland Cardiff Asset Management.”

Stewart Investors is part of First Sentier (formerly First State Investments), which was acquired by Japanese Financial giant MUFG in 2019. Asante left in 2019 after the transfer of ownership while the other team members remained. When Stewart Investors announced the closure of that part of the business in March 2022, the team made plans to join CCAM imminently.

CCAM is a privately owned independent asset manager with a partnership culture. It manages $2 billion of Japan, Indian and Asian-ex Japan equities on behalf of global consultants, institutions and professional investors.

AnaCap Financial Partners
AnaCap Financial Partners (“AnaCap”) has just announced the appointment of current partners Nassim Cherchali and Tassilo Arnhold as co-managing partners.

Cherchali and Arnhold have been leading AnaCap’s execution of its overall investment strategy, focused on lower mid-market founder-owned financial services, technology and related business services companies in Europe, since 2016.

As a result of the organisational restructure, Joe Giannamore, current chief executive officer and chief investment officer, will become group executive chairman. Giannamore’s day-to-day operational, strategic development activities and Investment Recommendation Committee roles remain unchanged. He will continue to deploy his vast expertise and experience to support the execution of AnaCap’s core strategy across Europe, backing talented entrepreneurs and increasing growth through technology-enabled operational transformation and sector consolidation.

Cherchali and Arnhold, who joined the firm in 2008 and 2015 respectively, took over day-to-day responsibility for the execution of AnaCap’s private equity investment strategy from 2016 onwards. Cherchali has focused on building the firm’s private equity presence in France, Iberia and the UK, while Arnhold has led the franchise build-out in Germany and the broader DACH region, the Nordics as well as the UK. They have led 15 platform deals and over 50 bolt-ons for AnaCap with a track record of 3.4x MM and 57 per cent IRR gross realised returns since 2016.

Leading a team of seasoned investment professionals, they have managed the evolved AnaCap private equity strategy, focusing on partnering with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial management teams in the European lower-mid market asset light financial services, financial technology and software as well as related business services space.

In their newly-appointed role, they will continue to lead the private equity investment strategy and execution of the business while also focusing on the continued build-out and growth of the AnaCap private equity franchise overall. 

In response to the change, Cherchali added: “I am delighted to take on this new role for an organisation which I have thoroughly enjoyed working for since 2008. It is truly a privilege to be part of what is such a dynamic and forward-thinking team. The business has a highly impressive roster of entrepreneurial and innovative portfolio companies which are a pleasure to work with. With the recent, strong track record of expanding into new territories and sub-sectors, as well as driving revenues through a series of innovative initiatives, this is a very exciting time for AnaCap’s private equity business.”

Arnhold concluded: “I am very proud to take on this co-managing partner role alongside Nassim, who I have worked closely with for nearly a decade, both operationally and in deal execution. 2022 has been a significant year of evolution and growth for AnaCap and our notable activity across the DACH region specifically has been something we are very proud of. We have a shared belief in the importance of AnaCap’s core values and strengths and now look forward to continuing the team’s impressive momentum across Europe into 2023 and beyond.”