Welcome! We are the first active equity asset management company to systematically combine in all our funds:
A higher probability of outperformance by investing in stocks with superior fundamental attributes
Higher ESG & Sustainability scores
A sustainable investment objective in line with the Paris-Climate Agreements resulting in funds with low carbon footprints and classified as Article 9 SFDR
Investment Strategy
Unique Portfolio Characteristics Deliver Superior Performance
The higher outperformance probability comes from systematically investing in companies with high scores in the following 5 dimensions:
Growth – is the company successfully expanding its business?
Profitability – does the company operate efficiently?
Financial Health – is the company in good financial condition?
Valuation – is the market price of the company attractive?
Sustainability – does the company excel in terms of ESG scores?
Our proprietary research on relevant fundamental selection criteria is the foundation of our fundamental model. We published the key results in the Wilmott Magazine
Companies with high ESG scores will outperform, because they:
Are a good proxy for superior management
Will attract significant institutional flows
Contribute to Investment Risk Mitigation
What makes our Approach to ESG unique?
Investing with a sole focus on ESG can result in buying over-priced stocks. We create portfolios with superior fundamental characteristics and very high ESG Scores and very low Carbon Footprint at the same time.
What is the expected Performance impact of ESG?
We use MSCI ESG database and we developed our own ARTICO ESG factor, which is a good predictor of future outperformance
Artico Partners is a signatory of the UN PRI, follows the engagement work and the exclusion list of the SVVK (Swiss Association for Responsible Investments), fully supports the PARIS agreement on climate change and is also a supporter of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures).
Published ARTICO Research:
Is sustainable investing a positive or negative contributor to outperformance? And how patient do investors need to be to capitalize on any positive effects? Our research results answer these questions and our conclusions on the required time horizon may come as a surprise for investors hesitating to introduce sustainable investing.
As Chairman of ARTICO Partners, Ulrich oversees the business strategy, the product development and the investment activities of the firm. Operationally, he is directly responsible for Risk Management and Compliance. Ulrich is a Founding Partner of ARTICO.
Ulrich has more than 30 years of investment experience and started his career as quantitative research analyst in 1986 at the then Swiss Bank Corporation. His various functions at SBC and later UBS Global Asset Management included: Chief Investment Officer, Co-CEO Switzerland, Chairman of the Swiss Business and Head of the Alternative Investment Management Business (Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Infrastructure). Ulrich holds a PhD in Nuclear Physics from University of Basle.
Dr. Gabriel Herrera
CEO and Senior Partner
As CEO of ARTICO Partners, Gabriel is responsible for all aspects of the business including the product development, client relationships and the investment activities of the firm. Gabriel is a Founding Partner of ARTICO.
Gabriel has more than 30 years of investment experience and started his career as equity research analyst in 1987 at the then Swiss Bank Corporation. His various functions at SBC and later UBS Global Asset Management included: Head of Equity Research, Co-CEO Switzerland and then CEO Europe Middle East & Africa. Gabriel holds a PhD in Economics from University of Basle.
Tero Toivanen
Senior Investment Advisor
As former Chief Investment Officer Tero was responsible for the research and development of investment strategies and portfolios. His responsibilities included the continued development of the investment platform and the portfolio management of ARTICO funds. Tero is now an independent senior advisor to the firm.
Tero’s background contains several years of experience in global equity portfolio management and prior experience in the areas of software development, quality management and team leadership. Tero holds MsC in computer science from the Helsinki University of Technology and MBA from the Purdue University. Tero is also a CFA Charterholder.
Michael Brenneis
CIO and Partner
Michael’s main responsibility is the portfolio management of ARTICO funds. His further responsibilities include the development of the investment platform, and research and development of investment products and strategies.
Michael holds diploma certificate in electrical engineering and MBA from the university of South Australia. He has several years of experience in global equity portfolio management and prior experience in software development in the areas of telecommunications, medical engineering and finance.
Andreas Konrad
COO and Partner
As Chief Operating Officer of ARTICO, Andreas is responsible for the operational part of the investment management, including the fund operations and trading activities.
Andreas‘ background involves several years of work experience in the finance industry, mainly in global equity trading and operations functions. He is holder of Swiss federal diploma in business organization and a diploma in applied psychology.
Small Caps and Emerging Markets offer interesting opportunities
• Investor optimism was dampened in August following Powell’s Jackson Hole speech and uncertainties about economic outlook
• In the month of August global developed markets lost 2.4%, global small caps declined 3.0% and Emerging Markets were down 6.2%
• Year-to-date all universes remain in positive territory, while emerging markets lag developed markets by an increasing margin
• Current market valuations diverge quite significantly (see page 2)
• Emerging markets are the only investment universe with moderate historic valuations
• Key reason for this valuation gap is the declining economic momentum in China and geopolitical tensions
• This attractive relative valuation represents an interesting opportunity to increase emerging market exposure for long-term oriented investors
• Small cap stocks also look less expensive than large-cap stocks
• This generally represents a good framework for active stock selection
• We remain concerned that the decade-long „easy-money“ has led to misallocation of capital
• With now much higher interest rates, these low-quality businesses face a serious refinancing risk
• How can you protect from this risk?
• We recommend to favor high-quality equity investments
• ARTICO Sustainable Equity funds (all Paris-aligned and classified as Article 9 SFDR) are a high-quality investment strategy with unique portfolio characteristics:
• a) superior fundamental characteristics,
• b) very high ESG/Sustainability scores and
• c) very low carbon footprint aligned with Paris-climate objectives
• Our Artico Sustainable Dynamic Global Flagship Fund allows cautious investors to fully benefit from the above characteristics at reduced market risk.
• CAVEAT: Currency-hedging costs are quite high due to large interest rate differentials of around 2-3% affecting the future performance of EURO and CHF-hedged share classes.
New Strategic Partnership for ARTICO with SERAFIN Asset Management
Today we can announce the formation of a strategic partnership with SERAFIN Asset Management, ensuring the continuation and further development of our ARTICO Sustainable Equity Funds. It will also provide our entire ARTICO team a broader base to operate in terms of research as well as marketing resources. The leadership, the ARTICO team and the investment process of our ARTICO Sustainable Equity Funds will remain unchanged.
Background and Rationale: We have built a good track record with the ARTICO team over the past 12 years by systematically investing in fundamentally good companies. Since 2019, we have expanded our investment criteria to include a high ESG rating and a low carbon footprint. The result is remarkable, as we not only retained the above-average fundamental properties, but were also able to achieve top ratings for both ESG and carbon footprint at the same time. With ARTICO Sustainable Equity Funds, the investor does not have to make any compromises in terms of performance or diversification and can pursue all three goals of “good performance“, “high sustainability“ and “low CO2 footprint“ at the same time.
Our unique positioning potentially appeals to many investors. However, Artico Partners is often regarded as too small by institutional investors to be able to win larger mandates. Our funds have also not yet had wider public distribution. For some time now, we have therefore come to the conclusion that ARTICO Partners cannot exploit its full potential stand-alone, but must look for a strategic partner with whom the next step will be possible. We have now found the right partner.
Last Friday we agreed on a strategic partnership with SERAFIN Asset Management, which not only brings us synergies in the areas of databases and quantitative research, but also gives us a decisive boost in sales and marketing. SERAFIN Asset Management is a young and entrepreneurial German asset management group with 1 billion AuM, which is already on the map with two asset management teams in Frankfurt and Zug. Besides its quantitative focus, it has one particular investment focus on „innovation“ as a key specialty. Subject to FINMA approval, SERAFIN will initially acquire 51% of ARTICO Partners. The entire ARTICO Partners team will remain together and will become the sustainability specialist within the SERAFIN Group.
ARTICO funds get approval for classification under Article 9 SFDR
• Luxembourg regulator approved classification of all ARTICO funds as article 9 SFDR.
• This means the highest sustainability category: Our funds follow a clear decarbonisation objective
• Many impact funds are concentrated on a particular sector or theme and are therefore only suitable for a marginal investment allocation
• ARTICO Sustainable Funds can replace a larger portion of traditional investments for more impact as they do not compromise on investment performance nor on diversification
• Besides the positive impact, the inclusion of ESG & Carbon Footprint criteria will also benefit future outperformance as it is a good proxy for better managed companies
ARTICO wins award as „Best Sustainable Equity Fund Manager Switzerland 2021“
