Hedge Invest is an Italian wealth manager run by two sisters. They mainly work for their Milan-based family, but have now decided to expand their reach to Zurich.
Her sister provides the research, her father a first batch of capital and the family as a whole invests in each of her projects. So why would Alessandra Manuli need to look for more money in Zurich? After all, Hedge Invest has always found plenty of capital in Italy or nearby Lugano.
And yet, Manuli is here in the heart of Swiss banking. She started her Hedge Invest firm 16 years ago with 30 million euros in seed money by the family office of the Manuli clan. Today, Hedge Invest has 1.5 billion euros invested in alternative assets. Enough to internationalize her business, Alessandra Manuli says.
Italian Rubber Kings
The Manuli family became rich making rubbery items, tubes, seals, duct tape from their base in Milan. The family listed Manuli Rubber on the stock exchange and started a diversification bid in real estate, a wellness resort and in finance. In 1999, Hedge Invest was founded.
Antonello Manuli, the father of the family, left his daughters Alessandra and Elisabetta Manuli (pictured below) to run the show, while their cousins are looking after the industrial business. Antonello Manuli Finanziaria, Amfin, is the family office in overall control of the family’s businesses.
Measures of Trust
To this day, Amfin is putting in money into every single product generated by Hedge Invest, before the Manuli daughters make them available to investors. This commitment by the family is well received by investors. Three quarters of Hedge Invest clients are rich private investors, mainly Italian, with a sprinkling of German and Swiss.
Alessandra Manuli expects Zurich to become an excellent springboard for a further expansion of her client base. The company will steer the development of its business interests in Zurich from Lugano for the time being, Alessandra Manuli told finews.com in an interview.
Tide Is Turning for Hedge Funds
According to the hedge fund manager, the industry has had tough eight years as central banks flooded the markets with money. With the floodgates about to close gradually, Manuli expects higher volatility on the markets, offering better conditions for hedge funds. She’s convinced that the next eight years will be much different from the past eight years.
And yet, asset management faces a lot of challenges. Manuli says that her company definitely has to grow to remain successful. She is looking for potential takeover targets in Italy and for possible partners for her expansion abroad. And she’s adamant that as the CEO she alone is responsible for the strategy of the business.
Alessandra Manuli never wanted to take over the industrial business of her family, because she wasn’t born with a love for machines and rubber. Instead, during her economics studies, she fell in love with the fledgling hedge-fund industry and decided to add to her family’s empire by starting her own firm.
