A new consolidator enters the Swiss market for independent asset managers and immediately snatches up an established player. The deal is not likely to be the end of the story.

Barely has the deadline for Finma licensing of independent asset managers in Switzerland expired when a bang occurs. With Cinerius Financial Partner, the newest kid on the block landed a bigger fish in the local pond of independent asset managers.

Cinerius is taking a majority stake in Entrepreneur Partners, a boutique asset management firm founded in 2008 and regulated by Finma since 2013, the two companies announced Wednesday. Entrepreneur Partners provides comprehensive wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients.

Prominent Board of Directors

The Zurich-based company has grown in recent years and currently manages around 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.3 billion) in client assets with 20 employees. The group's board of directors includes the former CEO of a Swiss brewery Werner Dubach and Urs Wietlisbach, co-founder of Partners Group.

Cinerius bills itself as a consolidator of a highly fragmented industry with many micro-enterprises. The Zug-based company aims to bring independent asset managers in Switzerland, Germany, and Liechtenstein together under one roof to help them continue to grow with capital and services and implement succession solutions.

Cross-Border Network

With the purchase of Entrepreneur Partners, Cinerius adds the first Swiss company to the network. The group includes six German asset managers with more than 120 employees in eleven locations and over 7 billion francs in assets under management for clients.

Despite acquiring a majority stake, the acquired companies will remain independent and operate with roughly the same management, according to the Cinerius model.

Long-Term Commitment

Even with the integration of Entrepreneur Partners, members management team along with the founding partners Oliver Ganz and Daniel T. Mueller along with Flavio Pedraita have made a long-term commitment and will continue to run the company independently. They will continue to hold substantial stakes in the company.

Entrepreneur Partners has found a strong anchor shareholder after tumultuous years of growth, according to CEO Ganz. For Cinerius CEO Christoph Lieber, the first transaction in Switzerland has not exhausted growth opportunities.