Adveq to launch Asia-focused Fund of Funds in '08

AltAssets has an interview with André P Jaeggi, Managing Director of Adveq, a Switzerland-based Fund-of-Funds, in which he talks about the firm's increasing focus on Asia.

While we have always looked at Asia, to date we have had only a very limited amount of capital available for investments in the region. With both the Adveq Europe and the Adveq Technology programmes we have had the option to invest up to ten per cent outside of the core region. This exposure has allowed us on the one hand to get a better understanding of the markets in Asia, and on the other hand to respond to a demand from our clients who have increasingly been asking for more exposure to Asia.

In addition to our direct involvement in Asia we have also had indirect exposure to the region via some of the US managers in our technology fund portfolio.

Our first Asian fund of funds was not widely marketed; it was something we did with our existing investors. The second one, which will launch in 2008, will obviously be marketed much wider and is expected to be more sizable. Thanks to the fact that we already have a foot in the door, we should be able to increase our placement capacity with some of the very best Asian managers. Our Asian portfolio will consist of about 50 per cent buy-outs, with the remainder split between development capital, and venture and special situations.'

...The fund of funds market has become quite an open market. When we started our business there were about 60 or 70 funds of funds in the world. Today there are more than 150. There is still space for new funds of funds targeting very specific markets - geographies or industry sectors.'

Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports.