Vontobel has acquired a majority stake in Harcourt Investment Consulting, a Zurich-based hedge fund group, from Dutch firm NIB Capital. ...

Vontobel has acquired a majority stake in Harcourt Investment Consulting, a Zurich-based hedge fund group, from Dutch firm NIB Capital.

Harcourt has around SFr4.1 billion ($3.1 billion) of assets under management. The Zurich-based bank paid SFr80 million for a 56 per cent stake in Harcourt.

“This (the acquisition) will provide Vontobel's institutional and private clients with access to a first-rate range of funds of hedge funds products that are geared towards generating long-term client value,” the Zurich-based bank said in a statement.

Harcourt is a major fund of hedge fund provider and employs around 60 staff in its Zurich office.

"As an internationally renowned supplier of hedge fund solutions that are geared towards generating long-term client value, Harcourt ideally complements Vontobel in the field of actively managed specialty products,” said Herbert Scheidt, chief executive of Vontobel, in a statement.

He added: “Moreover, our private clients will gain access to a broad, first-rate range of products in an ever more important asset class.”