Swiss Banks Team Build Private Market Solutions Firm

Robbie Lawther

19 February 2018

A trio of Swiss banks, Bank Pâris Bertrand Sturdza, Bordier & Cie and Reyl & Cie, have joined forces to develop private market solutions firm Hermance Capital Partners.

The firm will focus on private equity, private debt and private real estate. Investment solutions will be offered to the trio’s clients through Hermance Capital Partners, which will act as an independent self-governing entity, equally owned between the banks, alongside the management team, the banks said.

“Besides the converging interests of constructing a sophisticated offering for both private and institutional clients, the project’s backers are driven by common values, enshrined in the words responsibility, professionalism, quality and innovation,” said François Reyl, chief executive of Reyl & Cie.

The terms between the three banks were not disclosed.

Against a backdrop of tight yields in conventional listed markets, private capital markets have flourished on the promise of higher returns, albeit with potentially less liquidity. As reported in early January this year, the private capital investment sector raised 161 funds in the final three months of 2017, which means 1,410 such funds held a final close in 2017 with a total of $754 billion in commitments, beating the previous record of $728 billion in 2016. The gain was largely driven by the closure of several record-breaking funds: 2017 marked the closure of the largest-ever buyout fund and the largest-ever infrastructure fund, as well as funds ranked among the five largest ever for venture capital, secondaries, growth and natural resources, according to Preqin, a research group tracking such investments.