Universal Investment

Universal Investment
Company typeLimited company
IndustryInvestment funds
Founded1968; 56 years ago (1968)
HeadquartersFrankfurt, Germany
Key people
Number of employees
1,700 (2023)
Websitewww.universal-investment.com Edit this at Wikidata

Universal Investment is a group of companies headquartered in Frankfurt am Main with three regulated investment companies based in Germany, Luxembourg and Ireland. Biggest part is Universal-Investment Gesellschaft mbH, founded in 1968. Core offerings are investment fund services and management company services for asset management companies and institutional investors. The company launches and administers funds for all asset classes such as securities, alternative investments and real estate.

As of 2023, the group manages 972 billion euros in about 2,000 funds with over 1,700 employees.[2][3] The company is an affiliate member of Investment Association.[4]

With Universal-Investment-Luxembourg S.A., Universal Investment is also active in Luxembourg, where it is one of the 20 largest management companies with assets under administration of 108 billion euros.[5]

History

In 1968, the company was founded by several German private banks as joint investment company

In 2012, Berenberg Bank and Bankhaus Lampe acquired the shares of Hauck & Aufhäuser and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.[6]

With closing date 11 January 2017, the current main shareholder of Universal-Investment is Montagu Private Equity, who acquired the shares from the former parent companies.[7] In 2019, Universal Investment acquired the IT service provider UI labs, which specializes in front-office solutions, from Lupus alpha.[8] In 2020, the company founded UI Enlyte,[9] a digital asset investment platform based on distributed ledger technology, and acquired CAPinside, an online investment community.[10] In 2021 the group acquired Metzler Bank's Irish fund management company and renamed it Universal Investment Ireland Fund Management Limited.[11] In 2022, the company announced the acquisition of Luxembourg fund administrator European Fund Administration S.A.[12] Also in 2022, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a minority stake in the company from majority shareholder Montagu.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Grunwald, Aaron (24 October 2023). "Francesca McDonagh named group CEO of Universal Investment". Delano.
  2. ^ Linna, Lydia (17 April 2023). "Etienne Rougier appointed COO of Universal Investment". Delano.
  3. ^ "Profile Universal-Investment". Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Website Investment Association". 10 November 2021.
  5. ^ "PwC Observatory for Management Companies 2022 Barometer" (PDF). 31 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Berenberg and Bankhaus Lampe set to sell Universal Investment". InternationalInvestment. 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  7. ^ Kingston, Charles (2016-09-28). "Universal-Investment bought by UK private equity group Montagu". REFIRE. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  8. ^ "Universal Investment acquires labs". International Investment. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  9. ^ "Universal Investment startet Kryptoplattform" (in German). Börsen-Zeitung. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  10. ^ "Universal Investment kauft CAPinside" (in German). dpn. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  11. ^ "German investment firm enters Irish fund market". Funds Europe. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  12. ^ Young, Asset Servicing Times reporter Lyndsey. "Universal Investment Group completes acquisition of EFA". www.assetservicingtimes.com. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  13. ^ Serenelli, Luigi. "DACH roundup: CPP Investments buys minority stake in Universal Investment". IPE. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
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