GAM Drawing German Interest?

Germany's Bantleon Bank is reportedly thinking of investing more heavily in the battered Swiss asset manager.

Zurich-based GAM is drawing renewed interest from Joerg Bantleon, a German banker who controls the eponymous Swiss bank, according to a report by «Bloomberg» (not available online). The Munich-based banker already owns more than 5 percent of GAM, making him the asset manager's second-largest shareholder, after Silchester.

The U.K. fund house has held more than 15 percent of GAM since 2014. Bantleon, the bank, on Thursday said it sold a stake in LPKF, a German electronics and laser firm, without referencing the proceeds or future plans. It is mulling using the proceeds of that sale to ramp up at GAM, according to «Bloomberg». Bantleon also holds more than ten percent in Switzerland's Bank am Bellevue, which recently sold its bank arm to Quintet.

Under new CEO Peter Sanderson, GAM last month dramatically deepened efforts to slash its spending amid an asset bleed. The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing market turmoil is a blow to GAM's efforts to recover from a damaging scandal at one of its main boutiques.