CdR Capital builds London presence

CdR Capital has taken its next steps towards building an open architecture fund management business in London that will complement its Geneva private investment office on Cours de Rive, from which the company derives its name.

CdR Capital in London has recently hired Leila Kotlar-Bouget and Bojan Milicic from CQS to join Steve Smith, co-founder and managing partner and Paul Feldman, global chief operating officer.

Whilst at CQS, Kotlar-Bouget’s client service group was voted as the best investor relations team in the hedge fund industry. Milicic ran global consultants and institutional business in Europe and the UK.

Charged with building out and managing the operations of CdR Capital’s asset management business in London, Feldman is also responsible for running operations in Geneva and Dubai.

“We have been building CdR Capital over the last two years and now that we have our FCA licence we are ready to increase our client footprint,” said Feldman, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, who has run operations for BlueGold and other significant players.

“Most industries make a sharp distinction between manufacturing and distribution and we noted the rise of platforms like Uber, Amazon and AirBnB as a dominant business model in a recent Harvard Business Review article,” said Omar Ayache, co-founder and managing partner at CdR Geneva.

“We think that building a business focused on client partnerships, allocation and reporting and then backing into best-in-class manufacturing of investment returns is an interesting niche,” added Ayache, also a Goldman Sachs alumnus.

The hires of Kotlar-Bouget and Milicic, who met initially at Mike Platt’s BlueCrest Capital Management, demonstrate CdR Capital’s client-focused approach.

“We see many traditional fund intermediaries losing ground, whether in the fund of funds space or the bank platforms, and yet we constantly hear that institutional clients are looking to build ‘provider-partnerships’,” said Smith.

“The best-in-class specialist consultants have made great progress in imposing common risk and reporting standards, at least in the hedge fund industry, but that still leaves space for fiduciaries who share alignment of interests with their clients,” added Smith.

“I have been privileged to work for top tier alternative asset managers, where I have been able to get to know and understand the nuanced needs of the institutional investor community,” said Kotlar-Bouget.

“I believe that CdR Capital can offer the same level of professionalism and institutional servicing without being tied to one specific strategy, and, at the same time, adapting to a rapidly changing client environment,” Kotlar-Bouget added.

“Institutional investors are re-evaluating their alternatives strategy. We look forward to playing a role in that debate with a business model that is able to adapt to suit their individual needs,” said Milicic.

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CdR Capital

CdR Capital was originally founded in 2012 by Omar Ayache and Steve Smith in Geneva as a private investment office, serving a core group of large families and institutions. It also has offices in London and Dubai as well as a joint-venture with CdR Hollander, whose principal offices are in Miami.