Asset Management
Boutique structure. Institutional philosophy.
GMG Asset Management SA is an award-winning asset manager regulated by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
Experience and competence
We understand that performance matters. We’re confident that our knowledge, understanding and experience make us a valuable partner to offer a decisive edge.
2000
Founded
1B
AUM
ESG
Engaged
Swiss
Regulated
We’ve identified four major forces transforming the entire investment landscape.
Find out more in our investment outlook ‘The Great Transformation’.
Asset Management Investment philosophy
Our goal-based asset allocation framework allows us the flexibility to be dynamic and efficiently implement our macroeconomic and market views for our client portfolio mandates.
We employ a long-term investment philosophy, based on our business cycle outlook and the strong asset class convictions of our CIO and Investment Committee.
Our portfolio construction and investment framework incorporate ESG considerations across all our mandates. Therefore we fully embrace the importance of assessing ESG, Sustainability, and Impact measurement in our investment process.
Investment Mandates
Swiss equity mandates
Our Swiss equity mandates invest in a selection of high-quality stocks from the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) with a bias towards large and mid caps. The investment philosophy is based on the real economy, the long-term and a “value investing” strategy.
The portfolio is composed of a selection of around twenty high-quality stocks, reflecting the strong convictions of our managers. The “value investing” management style implies that we buy companies below their intrinsic value, corresponding to the discounting of future cash flows.
In addition, our analysts identify the competitive advantages of companies. The quality and management strategy of these companies are of paramount importance in order to successfully leverage these advantages.
The portfolio therefore favours companies that successfully navigate the various phases of economic cycles, while minimising speculation and aiming to achieve higher returns over the medium and long term.
Our track record demonstrates our outperformance against the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) while maintaining a lower risk than the SPI.
In terms of risk management, the investment restrictions allow the portfolio to over/underweight up to 1.5 times the weight of security in the SPI (for securities whose weight in the index is greater than 10%).
Balanced Mandates
Our balanced mandates follow our long-term investment philosophy which is based on the real economy and strong convictions with a “value investing” style.
Our outperformance is mainly achieved through asset allocation which is based on our in-depth investment research. Our investment philosophy combines two complementary approaches – asset allocation (Top-Down) and stock selection (Bottom-Up) – but also offers an appropriate balance between active and passive management.
The Top-Down (macro) approach determines both the asset and geographic (global) allocation. Our management strategy favours long-term equity investments in high-quality companies with first-class fundamentals and high asset liquidity. Due to our expertise in Swiss equities, we favour a “stock picking” approach. On the foreign equity side, we believe that stock picking outside Switzerland increases risk more than it increases returns. Therefore, foreign equities are invested in through passive funds and we apply a balance between active and passive management.
Regarding bonds, we invest in very high-quality debtors, since our investment policy and risk control is limited to debtors with a rating above A, in order to avoid any risk on bond investments.
Real estate is represented through a healthy diversification between funds and Swiss real estate equities, but also by investments in top-quality international real estate equities
Real estate mandates
GMG’s real estate mandates are distinguished by their track record of transactions in Swiss and foreign real estate (several multi-billion transactions in Swiss francs over the past 20 years). Thanks to this direct investment and development experience in Swiss, European and UK real estate, GMG has a superior level of real estate expertise.
The combination of the knowledge of the Group, through its GMG Real Estate entity, and the experience of the managers of the institutional team in indirect real estate mandates, offers investors an incomparable management proposal. Ongoing contact with our representatives in the field provides a crucial competitive advantage in the management of indirect real estate mandates. Our real estate mandates follow our long-term investment philosophy. It is based on the real economy and on the financial quality of the companies in order to propose regular growth in dividend yields.
Our real estate management is characterised by a healthy diversification between real estate investment funds and Swiss real estate equities, but also by investments in first-class international real estate equities.
Thus, in building the portfolio, our managers invest in both Swiss and foreign equities and real estate funds. This allocation allows the portfolio to benefit from stable dividend yields while also increasing the value of real estate assets and creating wealth over the long term.
The real estate portfolio is composed of a selection of high-quality Swiss and foreign securities, reflecting the strong convictions of our managers. The quality of the dividend, the locations in the real estate portfolio and its segmentation are essential elements in stock selection. Competent management that aims for long-term growth is of paramount importance in any real estate investment.
Finally, the macroeconomic aspect plays an essential role in the analysis of the valuation of real estate securities, since the latter is highly dependent on interest rates, but also on the quality of the tenants.
Our Asset Management team
Belal Khan
Belal joined GMG as Chief Investment Officer in 2021. Prior to this, he spent 15 years at HSBC Private Bank Switzerland, where he held several positions including CIO (2016–2021), responsible for helping formulate the global macroeconomic outlook, tactical asset allocation positioning, investment strategies and investment themes across asset classes. Belal's expertise and extensive work experience in foreign exchange sales and commodities have taken him to many leading banks, such as Merrill (formerly Merrill Lynch Investment Bank), Royal Bank of Canada, and Bank of Tokyo, among others.
Marc-Christian Bollet
Marc-Christian has more than 30 years of experience in institutional asset management. He spent 10 years as Investment Manager at the asset management firm IAM. Previously, he specialized in strategic asset allocation for balanced mandates and managed pension fund mandates at Lombard Odier from 1992 to 2009. He also managed European and Swiss equity mandates there. Marc is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Portfolio Manager (CIIA) as well as a Chartered Market Technician (CMT).
Vincent Oswald
Vincent is an experienced fund management professional with strong operational background. He has experience in various fields of the financial world at both a macro and micro level and vast professional network in global finance, development finance, multilateral development institutions and NGOs. Vincent joined the Geneva Management Group Board of Directors in 2021.
Didier Prod’Hom
Didier brings more than 30 years of professional experience in architecture, construction and real estate development in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. His previous appointments include Director of Real Estate Development for the Swiss-based international conglomerate Marti Construction and Real Estate Manager at the pension fund Cap Prévoyance, Commune of Geneva, City of Geneva, and SIG (services industriels de genève), as well as Project Manager at several architecture firms. He is currently Vice-President of the Swiss Cantonal Urban Commission and Municipal advisor for the City of Carouge (Geneva, Switzerland).
Caroline Zeller, Dr.
Caroline has 30 years of experience in institutional asset management. She spent 14 years at IAM, an institutional asset management company, as a Member of the Management Committee. Caroline worked as a Senior Manager at the UBS bond desk for 10 years. She also spent 6 years as a doctoral student and assistant in finance to Professor Dumont at the University of Geneva. Caroline specialises in risk management and compliance for Swiss equity portfolios, balanced mandates and passive management. Caroline holds a PhD in economics from HEC Geneva and a law degree from the University of Geneva.
Marc Currat
Prior to joining GMG, Marc spent 10 years as a portfolio manager for global emerging market equities at Deutsche Bank's DWS. He held several roles in Europe and Asia, including a lead responsibility for institutional mandates, the co-management of flagship funds, the integration of ESG and development of quantamental strategies. Marc contributed to broadening the scope of institutional coverage and was also responsible for research with a specialised focus on Southeast Asia and thematics. Previously, he served as an equities and quant analyst at Surperformance SAS. Prior to that he was auditor advisor at Currat& Associes SA. Marc holds a BSc in Management from CIBU – California International Business University and MBA in Finance from International School of Management & St. John’s University.