London-based multi-family office pioneers SandAire and Lord North Street have agreed terms to join forces.
The merged firm will have 50 employees and the group will have offices in London, Geneva, and Singapore.
As a result of this agreement, the enlarged business will provide conflict-free investment management services to families with large fortunes and major endowment funds. Both firms currently manage substantial assets for wealthy international families and endowments including Oxford and Cambridge colleges.
“This is an exciting ambitious strategic step forward for us,” says Alex Scott, founder of SandAire. “Crucially, our businesses share common values on the principles of serving clients and this made the fit so compelling. Together, we are very well positioned to meet the growing global need for families and endowments to access specialised objective guidance on their investments.”
Under the terms of the agreement Scott will assume the role of executive chairman. William Drake and Adam Wethered, who co-founded Lord North Street, will be vice chairmen. The two will also be shareholders of the combined business which will be majority owned by the Scott family.
“Our two firms share a distinctive culture and philosophy regarding the provision of bespoke and unbiased investment services to wealthy families and endowments,” says Drake. “The respect between us is considerable. This combination provides us with better scale to serve clients and to support our employees. It also fits our ambitions for gradual international expansion”.
Alexandra Altinger has been appointed as chief executive officer. Altinger has over 20 years' experience in the global wealth and asset management industry. During this time, she spent a significant part of her career working in Asia and the US. Most recently Altinger worked for Lansdowne Partners. Prior to this she was at Wellington Management leading the sub advisory and fund distribution business in Europe.
