Bantleon, a leading provider of institutional asset management and bond solutions, has successfully completed the acquisition of a 62% majority stake in Credit Suisse Investment Partners Schweiz AG (in future Bantleon Convertible Experts AG) following approval by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. The seller is UBS AG. With the acquisition of the convertible bond specialist, Bantleon is underlining its expertise in bond management and expanding the product range to include multiple award-winning convertible bond funds.
»The acquisition of this highly specialised convertible bond expertise perfectly complements our core competence in bond management. The team, including the Europe-wide recognised experts Rossitza Haritova and Lukas Buxtorf, has enjoyed an excellent reputation for many years and will help us to further differentiate our offering«, explains Stephan Kuhnke, CEO of Bantleon AG. »Some of our institutional clients have expressed a clear interest in integrating convertible bonds to optimise the risk-return profile of their portfolios. Currently, convertible bonds are attractive again and we expect a significant increase in assets under management.«
Strong product portfolio and various awards in the convertible bond sector
The acquisition brings three top-rated convertible bond funds to Bantleon, including the award-winning Bantleon Global Convertibles Investment Grade (formerly CSIP Lux Global Investment Grade Convertible Bond Fund). The fund has a 5-star rating from Morningstar and was named best fund in its category in Europe and Switzerland in the 3-year comparison at the Lipper Fund Awards in May 2024. This underlines the excellent performance and management of these products, which are now part of the expanded Bantleon portfolio.
Experienced team of convertible bond specialists
Credit Suisse Investment Partners Schweiz AG was founded in 2007 by Stefan Hiestand under the name AgaNola AG as a specialist in convertible bonds. In 2020, the company strengthened its partnership with Credit Suisse Asset Management by acquiring a majority stake. The team, which is now part of the Bantleon Group, consists of five specialised portfolio managers who have an average of seven years of experience at the company and more than 14 years of experience in convertible bond management.
As a result of the takeover, Bantleon's assets under management (AuM) will increase by EUR 1 billion to EUR 25 billion and assets under management (AuA) to around EUR 41 billion. Furthermore, the number of employees will increase by five to around 150. The remaining shares in Bantleon Convertible Experts AG will continue to be held by the existing long-standing minority shareholders. Stefan Hiestand will remain with the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Oliver Gasser as CEO in order to support its successful further development.
