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B. G., Opalesque Geneva for New Managers: Clayton Heijman is a proper expert in the investment management industry. So, after decades of experience in clearing, prime brokerage and hedge funds acquired at KasBank, MeesPierson, Goldman Sachs, Fortis and Credit Agricole-Calyon, he set up Privium Fund Management, a firm that helps managers get off the ground.
Since the founding of Privium in 2008, he has helped a number of managers and watched them grow and flourish. "That in itself makes it a terrific job, to help someone else's dream come true," he says during a recent Opalesque TV interview with Matthias Knab.
His own dream started taking shape in the 90s, he recalls, when the development of the hedge fund industry in Europe was underway. This is when he noticed that quite a few managers, even if they had a good investment strategy, needed handholding as they did not know how to set up a hedge fund or how to run it. He started working on a plan to set up a firm that would help them in 2006 and took the leap two years later.
2008 was a trial-by-fire year for those starting a business, what with the Bear Stearns, Lehman and Madoff events. This led to a growing need for more solid infrastructures. The team at Privium, rich with their experience in custody, clearing and financing, was ready at the right time.
"That first year was definitely not the easiest, obviously, with the financial meltdown but on the flip side, there were a lot of people willing to start up and they required infrastructure and funding," he says.
So, together with an incubator that APG, a large Dutch pension asset manager, had started, Privium helped to set up several new funds and in the process, grew into a true fund management group.
Expansion
Heijman did not want to just be a start-up consultant or an infrastructure provider, he also wanted to be a business partner to these initiatives for the long term. So, Privium expanded from its Amsterdam offices to London, where a lot of people coming from the proprietary desks that had been let go in the global financial crisis, wanted to start a hedge fund or a trading activity. In 2016, he established an office in Hong Kong where the same thing was happening.
Fast forward a few years, and he noticed a new need among fund managers: a second base in Asia. So he looked around the continent and eventually found the ideal partner in Singapore with whom he set up shop in 2020. "That was a lucky find because soon after when Covid hit, everyone wanted to have a new base in Asia."
From the Singapore vantage point, it became obvious that China could not be neglected. So Privium soon set up a unit in Shanghai for business development. "That unit has been very active in getting the word out in the Shanghai and Beijing markets. We have very high hopes that it will bear fruit this year."
During the Covid years, fund managers could not travel and see investors, portfolio companies or other business parties. So for a year, Privium met with private equity, venture capital and hedge funds and decided to aim West too.
The firm has recently set up a desk at New York City's Rockefeller Center. "That is particularly good news for managers who want to put people on the ground in other jurisdictions. We have someone in New York who can help those managers, marketers, investor relations people in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, or the EU."
For fund managers, he adds, "it doesn't pay you to set up their own license and their own activity, so they would rather work together with a business partner."
What they do and do not do
As of now, Privium offers three sorts of services: compliance and regulations, risk management, and operations. The infrastructure now services more than $4bn of AuM in hedge funds, private equity, venture capital and real estate strategies.
"Together with those portfolio management teams, we develop the business
further for them," he adds. "We look at where new investments are to be made or where new investors can be found. So with that market intelligence, they'll be able to position themselves better and grow their business activities."
Privium does not allocate capital (that would constitute a conflict of interests) nor does it do fund administration, which Heijman believes is better taken care of by an independent party.
"What we bring to managers, be they start-up, scale-up, or existing managers, is a lot of experience. It's not just the 15 years of experience at Privium, it's also the experience that each and every one of our senior members has in its background - sometimes decades of experience in a senior role. That experience brings connectivity."
You can watch the Opalesque Virtual Manager Visit Video here: Privium Fund Management: Turning managers' dreams and ambitions into reality
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