Bankinter Investment launches an alternative-investment fund management firm
The new SGEIC (Bankinter Investment SGEIC, S.A.U.) is going to start up, with the aim of establishing itself as the largest alternative-investment savings management firm in Spain.
It will continue Bankinter on its journey that began in 2016, with approximately four billion euros committed by customers and approximately seven billion euros' worth of assets being managed together with its sector expert partners.
With this launch, Bankinter is taking a major step towards adopting delegated management of investments in alternative assets, in order to diversify assets more widely..
All of this, along with the recently approved new regulatory framework, will give retail customers access, depending on their risk profile, to specific investments with these features, which until now were restricted to high-net-worth and institutional customers..
Bankinter Investment SGEIC, S.A.U. is taking a decisive step to establish itself as Spain's largest alternative-investment savings management firm. It has been working in this area for the past six years and has been a pioneer on this market.
As a result, and after having obtained regulatory approval, the entity being set up,* Bankinter Investment SGEIC (the Management Firm), will be a new closed-end collective investment management firm, fully owned by Bankinter Investment, S.A.U., which will perform the functions of controlling, managing and executing Alternative Investments. This Management Firm was set up not only to bolster the bank's previous operations in this area, but also to expand them to a much broader client base which, from now on, will be able to participate in real-economy investment opportunities identified by the Management Firm's experts as well as, where applicable, their expert partners, which, until now, were restricted to high-net-worth and institutional customers, due to their high entry amount.
The Management Firm plans to evolve the Alternative Investment options, by providing them to customers as delegated management opportunities, considering the profile of each customer and looking to suitably diversify its investments. Under the recently approved new regulatory framework (Law 18/2022, of 28 September, on the creation and growth of companies), the Alternative Investment platform, through the Management Firm, will be available for investments from 10,000 euros and up always within the legal framework. However, at the same time, the most valuable assets may still be directly invested in the new investment vehicles being launched in future.
The Management Firm will maintain the model followed up until now by the bank, which involves investments in real-economy sectors very carefully selected for their growth potential, searching for the best professional management firm for each investment type, monitoring all investments very closely in the interests of investors, and co-investment by Bankinter Investment, S.A.U. and its sector expert partners, as well as the other investors, meaning that all of their interests will clearly align.
The type of assets held as investments will be the same as in previous years, such as assets in infrastructure, renewable energy, technology, student residences, hotels, logistics and the environment, as well as other new sectors to be added.
Its philosophy is not only to maximise returns while minimising risks for investors, but also add value to society, help to support and develop new sectors, create jobs and, at the same time, help to boost all families' long-term financial savings.
Íñigo Guerra, Managing Director of Bankinter, commented on the new Management Firm: "We will continue to look for new alternative-investment opportunities. Our objective is to channel domestic savings towards sustainable, productive and profitable investments, help to generate wealth and create jobs, and promote a kind of circular economy for investments, whereby these investments and their capital gains remain mostly in the Spanish market".
Alternative investment as an opportunity in the current climate.
In the current climate of inflation and high market volatility, which makes traditional investment incredibly tricky, alternative assets are a value proposition for customers seeking to diversify and balance their portfolios with investments in tangible assets.
This type of investment is advantageous, as it is less influenced by economic cycles and financial-market performance (stock markets or bonds), meaning that it is less volatile and has a better risk-return ratio than traditional investments in listed assets in many cases, even though, in turn, it also has less liquidity and longer terms.
The Alternative Investment market in Spain is suffering as a result of reaching maturity in other neighbouring countries and in the United States. Therefore, the percentage of overall savings allocated to these investments is under 5% in our country, compared to between 15% and 20% in Europe, and between 20% and 30% (and growing) in the US. A number of figures give some idea about this activity's potential in Spain, especially in the kind of climate that we are currently facing.
A proven track record in investment banking.
Bankinter Investment, S.A.U. is the investment-banking subsidiary of Bankinter, S.A., which has been operating since 2016 and Bankinter has used to promote a major alternative-investment platform, which has become a benchmark on the Spanish market. Since it was set up, the entity has had a proven track record of launching alternative-investment vehicles, with 19 successful launches to date. These vehicles have attracted capital commitments from investors totalling approximately four billion euros, and when including project financing, the overall portfolio of assets under management currently almost seven billion euros. Once all vehicles are 100% invested, this figure is expected to stand at around 10 billion euros. For the asset-management process, the entity has followed a model for all vehicles of solely working with an expert partner in each investment segment, such as renewable energy, real estate, student housing, hotels, logistics real estate, infrastructure, commercial property, and venture capital.
Bankinter Investment, S.A.U. complements its standard business offering, which from now will be delivered solely by the Management Firm, with a range of other services for customers, such as advice on mergers and acquisitions, real-estate investment, debt capital markets (such as bond issues, private placements on the alternative fixed income market and promissory note programmes), equity capital markets (IPOs and capital increases), and structured financing, which involves project-financing transactions, acquisitions, assets, balance-sheet restructuring, shareholding reorganisation and optimisation of corporate structures.
If you would like any information about Bankinter Investment, S.A.U. or Bankinter Investment, SGEIC, S.A.U., you can find it on their website at the following address: www.bankinterinvestment.com.
*(awaiting registration in the Trade and Companies Register and in the CNMV Register of Entities).
