iM Global Partner has acquired a 40 per cent interest in Scharf Investments, an independently owned and employee-controlled US equity value firm with USD3.4 billion in AUM as of end of March 2019.
With this new acquisition in the US, iM Global Partner aims to strengthen its offering with a wider range of high alpha products.
iM Global Partner is a leading investment and development platform focused on acquiring strategic investments in best-in-class traditional and alternative investment firms in the US, Europe and Asia. This new operation brings iM Global Partner’s assets under management to nearly USD10 billion, in proportion to its participations.
Scharf Investments is a California-based firm founded in 1983. Managed by Brian Krawez, President and Investment Committee Chairman, the company grew from five people and under USD700 million of assets under management in 2007 to 24 people and USD3.4 billion of assets under management today.
All the strategies are managed with the same value fundamental bottom up and focused approach. They look for securities with significant discounts to their valuation as margin of safety, high earnings predictability and solid growth. Scharf Investments currently manages four distinct strategies:
• The long-only US equity strategy, their core equity strategy on which the three others are based
• The long-only multi-asset strategy
• The long/short hedged US equity strategy
• The long-only global equity strategy
Philippe Couvrecelle (pictured), founder and CEO of iM Global Partner, says: “Scharf Investments is an outstanding company with a solid long term track record. Across various time periods, they have proven their ability to withstand adverse market conditions thanks to a sustainable investment process. Our two distribution platforms in the US and in Europe will support them to grow in both the US and international markets. This new deal is the fifth investment we have done in the US with our consistent objective to provide access to unique asset management boutiques across the world.”
Krawez adds: “In the past 10 years, we have seen growth in our AUM thanks to our capabilities to cross adverse market conditions. This partnership with iM Global Partner is a fantastic opportunity to accelerate our development. iM Global Partner’s US and international strong experience in the asset management industry and the cultural fit we have with them is for us a real gage of solidity and long-term partnership.”
Jeff Seeley and Jose Castellano, deputy CEOs of iM Global Partner and respectively head of US and International distribution, commented: “Scharf Investments is a proven leader in value equity asset management with a top 1 per cent long term track record of its flagship strategy since inception. We are excited to partner with them. Their full suite of high-quality investment strategies will help us to broaden our already established relationships and further develop new relationships with institutions, financial advisors, RIAs, high net worth clients and intermediary model portfolios.”
