Spanish boutique targets UK with triple fund launch

Spanish firm March Gestión is looking to spread its business to the UK and is in the process of registering its funds for sale.

The Madrid-based group adopts a specialist approach to investing and its expansion plans will mainly involve three of its Luxembourg domiciled global funds: absolute return fund Torrenova, wine fund Vini Catena and the Family Business Fund.

Speaking exclusively to Citywire, Jose Luis Jimenez, the firm’s CEO which is the asset management arm of Spanish bank Banca March, said the UK was the next step for his company to grow in Europe.

The €2.1 billion firm is currently in the process of registering three of its Luxembourg-domiciled funds for sale in the UK.

‘We know the UK is a complex market, there a lot of players but we have a very different offering to others.’

He said their offer is mainly tailored to investors looking for a very defensive approach with low volatility and market correlation.

The Torrenova fund is a global absolute return managed by Juan Berberana and aims to offer regular income through investing across the global bond and equity sectors.

The Vini Catena fund is a thematic fund that invests in stocks and bonds linked to the wine industry and looks to benefit from the positive trends in the fine wine world. It is run by  José Antonio Méndez Roth and formerly Citywire AA-rated manager Francisco Javier Pérez Fernández.

The manager duo also manage the most recent addition to the group’s Luxembourg offering , the Family Business fund, which was launched in early 2012. It invests solely in listed companies where more than 25% of ownership is held by a single family.

Jimenez also said that Latin America is another target for his firm .