Case History

“INSTITUTIONALISING” A FAMILY OFFICE
Rancilio Cube
2020 – present

I support an Italian family in opening its portfolio to external investors, “institutionalising” the investment office. We explored the best way to offer to other investors a unique portfolio of venture capital funds and direct holdings in the most innovative tech-driven companies. The investment vehicle became regulated as a “SICAF” (Società di investimento a capitale fisso) in 2022 and I sit on the board of directors.

IMPACTFUL INFRASTRUCTURE
AND PRIVATE EQUITY fund of funds
GERMAN WEALTH MANAGER
2020 – Present

This prominent German wealth manager (part of a large global banking group) has a lot of experience investing in private assets and the goal is to create a portfolio of private equity and infrastructure fund of funds with positive environmental and social impact. I support the design of the strategy, the definition of the investment universe, and conduct due diligence work on the best investment opportunities (in collaboration with FIIND Impact, an impact advisor).

wealth planning ahead of a generational transition
large family office
2022

A well-structured family office is planning the transition from the current beneficiary to the next generation of stakeholders, and namely those benefitting from the philanthropic activities. The work included a review of the current setup and portfolio, discussion of a new strategic asset allocation, and drafting of an investment policy statement (IPS).

INVESTING in climate solutions
grant-making organisation
2022

I conducted a study on the “investability” of Project Drawdown for institutional investors. Project Drawdown is a climate change mitigation initiative detailing the most effective climate solutions (more here: https://drawdown.org/). The conclusion is that some areas – such as electrification – are more “investable” than others i.e., there are more projects and funds to choose from with a range of risks and expected returns.

MISSION-RELATED INVESTING
VAN LEER FOUNDATION
2020 – 2021

Van Leer is a large endowed foundation in the Netherlands with a focus on early childhood (Bernard Van Leer Group). I worked to design a mission-related impact investing program aligned with its philanthropic mission. After exploring the impact universe it was decided to – at least initially – focus on generalist funds i.e., investing in a number of themes and sectors, and on education technology (edtech) venture funds. Many funds fit the mandate in terms of themes – for e.g., funds focusing on health, food and agriculture, sustainable cities. The Foundation however has specific financial goals and many funds presented too much risk e.g., they were first-time funds, investing in frontier markets, in niche sectors. The conclusion of this and other work is that the impact universe is large and diversified, but at times it is still relatively “immature” (project in collaboration with FIIND Impact, an impact advisor).

SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENTS
GENERALI INSURANCE
AND THE HUMAN SAFETY NET foundation
2020

With Generali Insurance and its philanthropic arm – The Human Safety Net – we mapped and selected social impact investments in the private space (venture capital, private equity, private debt, and real estate). The goal was to identify opportunities aligned with the foundation’s mission to lift vulnerable populations, particularly families and migrants. Following the manager search we conducted due diligence on relevant social impact funds.

DEVELOPMENT FINANCE INSTITUTION (DFI)
2020

In the summer of 2020, I conducted a study to benchmark the investments of a development finance institution (part of a development agency) to assess their capabilities in emerging market private equity, both direct and in funds (in collaboration with FIIND Impact an impact advisor).