Swiss Asset manager ratings - The winners and their best investments BILANZ Special Issue
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The Swiss Business Magazine
Swiss Asset
manager ratings
The winners and their best investments
Special Issue
from BILANZ 3/2021
© BILANZINVEST ASSET MANAGER RATING 2021
LAKEFIELD PARTNERS
ASSET MANAGER OF THE YEAR (60 M)
VINICIO MARSIAJ
von Lakefield Partners vertraut auf sein System, um Emotionen auszuschalten. Die Risikoindikatoren geben für Aktien trotz der hohen Bewertun-
gen positive Signale.
(From left to right) Paul A. Schütz, Vinicio Marsiaj, Bilal Jusufi, Bruno Verstraete, Andreas Sidler
FOCUS ON
RETURNS
Asset Manager Rating For the tenth time, BILANZ set out to find
the best money managers in Switzerland. How they mastered the
turbulent year 2020 and which stocks they are betting on in 2021.
S
BY ERICH GERBL
wiss asset managers hand, there were the digitalisation manager in such a turbulent stock
will not forget 2020 winners, who could hardly save market year.
anytime soon. The themselves from business, and on For the tenth time, BILANZ selects
Pictures: Joseph Khakshouri for BILANZ
worst stock market the other hand, the big losers from the best asset managers in Switzer-
carnage in decades sectors such as the airline industry, land and shows which money mana-
was followed by a re- who are still fighting for survival. gers did particularly well in this envi-
covery rally that ex- The difference in valuation between ronment. For this purpose, the
ceeded even the wil- value and growth stocks widened to service provider Firstfive compared
dest expectations. a level not seen for two decades. 110 real client portfolios. All trans-
The upheavals tore a huge wave In short, you could make a lot of actions were booked via the asset
through the market. On the one mistakes as a professional money management software, thereby stan-
2Vinicio Marsiaj’s favourites: was not a matter of course, as many
asset managers rebalance their port-
▶ Bank of America folios on a quarterly basis, and not
«Bank of America Corp. is the largest financial institution in the US. US retail
necessarily at the end of the quarter.
banks have significantly lagged the rising interest rate trend. Higher interest rates Experienced money managers
are usually accompanied by higher profit margins for commercial banks. As the eco- took advantage of the attractive offers
nomy recovers, banks will benefit from increased business activity and better credit when the mood on the markets was
quality.» ISIN: US0605051046 still at rock bottom. «We bought at the
▶ ABB beginning of April after the price col-
«The ABB share is currently one of our most important positions in the Swiss Large lapse. At that time, it was by no me-
Cap Fund. The company is active in power supply, energy systems, process automa- ans clear to us whether the prices
tion and robotics segments. We bought the share because it will benefit from would slide again or not. However,
growth in Asia, especially in China. The European Green Deal will also contribute we were convinced that many assets
to a positive business development.» ISIN: CH0012221716 were clearly undervalued at that
▶ Komax Holding time,» says Matthias Hug of Format
«Komax is a Swiss manufacturer of wire processing machines. Komax›s automatic Vermögen & Anlagen AG, who out-
assembly systems are required in the telecommunications, medical and automotive performed his competitors in the
industries. The company suffered from the weakening of the automotive sector in conservative and balanced risk clas-
2020. We expect an economic recovery to benefit this high-quality company.» ses over a twelve-month period. Nor
ISIN: CH0010702154
was Hug unprepared. During a situa-
tion assessment in 2019, he had come
to the conclusion that the economic
cycle was nearing its end and had
reduced the risks in all portfolios.
dardised, and controlled. This cal fluctuations were wrong. Growth Defensive shares such as BKW or
uniform data basis makes the compa- stocks collapsed less than their histo- Emmi and US government bonds
rison unique. rical volatility would have suggested, with long maturities were added to
The managers who achieved parti- and then recovered even more stron- the portfolios instead.
cularly high returns in relation to the gly. «The difference in the perfor-
risk taken are distinguished. The ta- mance of asset managers has never EMOTIONS TRICKED
ble on page 5 shows the best perfor- been as great as it is in 2020,» says The asset manager Helvetic Trust, on
mance per risk class over one and Matthias Hunn, Firstfive›s represen- the other hand, held a lot of physical
three years. The «Asset Manager of tative in Switzerland and managing gold and convertible bonds and was
the Year» award is given to those who director of FinGuide, a company that thus able to profit. «The asymmetri-
have performed best in three out of helps private individuals find suitable cal risk-return profile of convertible
four different risk classes over a cer- asset managers. bonds gave us security and confi-
tain period. Many asset managers dence, especially in March 2020, to
had a hard time in 2020. LUCK IN MISFORTUNE stay invested and not have to sell in
Models that had been established Despite all the skill, luck also the market weakness,» says CIO Kay
for years no longer worked during played a part. An automatic rebalan- Fischer.
the politically imposed shutdown cing of the portfolios on 31 March Other asset managers were able to
and the accompanying economic came shortly after the low point and block out emotions with the help of
slump. Programmes fed with histori- thus at exactly the right time. This technology. «When the fog was at its
thickest in March and nobody knew
where the economy was going, we
trusted our systems and bought
equity in April,» says Vinicio Marsiaj
„Our method has been established of Lakefield Partners, best asset ma-
nager over 60 months. The in-house
in the market since 2002 and has model has been analysing the most
important economic indicators since
already experienced the good, the 2002. The idea behind it, very simpli-
fied: If the analysis shows an upturn
bad and the very ugly. The method in economic activity, the risk is incre-
ased. «Our method has been establis-
is deep in our DNA.” hed in the market since 2002 and has
already experienced a lot - the good,
Bruno Verstraete, Lakefield Partners the bad and the very ugly. The method
3is deep in our DNA,» says Bruno Ver- lead to significantly higher corpo-
straete of Lakefield Partners.
If the approach advises buying,
rate profits and rising share prices,»
says Hug. One of the main drivers How testing
investments are made even if fear
dominates the markets. «That›s
remains the investment emergency.
«With cash, bonds and real estate,
takes place
where you need discipline, not emo- less high returns can be achieved The asset manager rating is
tion,» says Verstraete. than in the last 20 years. That is why based on a continuous evaluation
After the storm, it was important equities are by far the most attractive of real client portfolios by the
to bet on the right stocks. The techno- asset class in our view, both for 2021 German financial services provi-
logy sector was booming like rarely and for the decade as a whole,» says der Firstfive AG. 110 portfolios
before. «In the weakness of the mar- Hug. He expects a good equity portfo- were evaluated for BILANZ.
ket, we further expanded our US lio to generate double-digit returns in Firstfive is very precise. All tran-
share and thus technology, as a clear 2021. With the economy in recovery sactions are recorded in parallel
acceleration of structural change from the crisis and at the beginning of on its own asset management
and digitalisation became appa- the next economic cycle, he says cyc- software. This creates a uniform
rent,» says Bruno Milesi, a Basel- lical sectors, basic materials, industri- data basis that does not exist in
based asset manager who won the als and consumer discretionary are this form elsewhere in Switzer-
moderately dynamic risk class over particularly attractive at the moment. land.
three years. Hug likes Sulzer, AMS, Zehnder, Barry The decisive factor for the
The asset manager Premium Stra- Callebaut, Helvetia, Hiag Immo and placement is the return in rela-
tegy Partners AG came through the Swissquote in addition to his recom- tion to the risk taken, the so-
crisis well with a special approach. mendations. called Sharpe ratio. This ratio
The Zurich-based company speciali- shows how much the risk has
ses in the so-called barbell strategy. RETURN OF THE BEATEN been earned.
This investment concept involves in- Lucas Patt also believes in a successful The risk results from the fluc-
vesting simultaneously in invest- implementation of the testing and tuations in the value of the port-
ments that are strongly correlated vaccination strategy as well as a par- folio. The risk adjustment of the
with the markets and those that are tial return of the normal life. If Patt returns makes a fair performance
less correlated. An example of an has his way, the airline and travel comparison possible. As a rule,
investment that moves little with the industry, the hotel industry and the money managers buy higher
markets is the shares of the vaccine catering sector will benefit the most. profit potential with higher
manufacturer Moderna. When selec- The duty-free provider Dufry is one risks.
ting investments, one focuses on of his favourites. He also believes There is a list of best perfor-
trends. «When a trend comes along, that banks, insurance companies, mers in four risk categories for
we jump on it,» explains Lucas Patt, precious metals, commodities and different time periods. The risk
one of the three partners of the the energy sector will do well in classification of the portfolios is
Zurich-based company. These can 2021. Nor is the time of the Corona based on the real price fluctua-
be short-term trends like vaccines or profiteers over yet. Companies that tions of the investments.
long-term ones like electromobility, reduce personal contact will conti- For the «Asset Manager of the
hydrogen or artificial intelligence. In nue to enjoy brisk demand. «The Year» award, Firstfive combines
addition, Premium Strategy Partners possibility of working from home the results from three out of
«writes» puts and calls on companies will remain an integral part of the four submitted risk classes on
such as Lonza or Logitech on a co- economy,» he says. the basis of the Sharpe Ratio via
vered basis. «Normally, big banks Lakefield Partners› risk indicators a points ranking. The strategies
offer this for special clients,» says give positive signals for equities des- with the best Sharpe Ratio are
Patt. pite the high valuations. However, rated.
according to Vinicio Marsiaj, regions The best Sharpe Ratio recei-
DRIVERS OF THE ASSET CRISIS are recovering unevenly - a develop- ves 33.33 points and is the
Currently, the markets and the real ment that is exacerbated by the vary- benchmark for the subsequent
economy seem to be drifting apart. ing pace of vaccinations. The faster places. These receive points ac-
Investors are wondering how long immunisation takes place, the more cording to the percentage achie-
the party on the stock markets will tangible normality becomes. The per- vement of the top result. The
continue. Matthias Hug believes that centage weight of the service sector in winner is the asset management
the economy will continue to reco- an economic area will determine the company with the highest total
ver as soon as the measures to com- recovery potential in the coming number of points. The winner
bat the pandemic are eased. He fore- months. For Swiss portfolios, Lake- must achieve outstanding
casts global economic growth of five field Partners is focusing on cyclicals, performance in three different
to six percent for 2021. «This will «anything that benefits from normali- investment strategies.
4INVEST ASSET MANAGER RATING 2021
Asset Manager of the Year
In the «Asset Manager of the Year» ranking, Firstfive evaluates strategies across three risk classes.
The winners are distinguished by consistent performance with different risk tolerance and risk
taking ability. The maximum score is 100 points.
Timeframe Winner Points
12 Months Format Vermögen & Anlagen AG 93,5
36 Months Oddo-BHF Trust GmbH 74,1
60 Months Lakefield Partners 94,3
sation». The rotation towards cyclicals cus for investors as a result of the enor- believes the priced-in profit and
is one of the most important themes mous support measures by central growth forecasts for the full year are
for Marsiaj in 2021. Cyclicals from the banks and governments. Geographi- too high. He believes that the sales
SPI Extra, in which Swiss stocks out- cally, he is looking east. «We expect a losses from the first half of the year
side the SMI are represented, are over- more Pacific world, not least because cannot be compensated for in the se-
weighted. of the merger of Asian countries into a cond half. «This realisation will incre-
Erich Pfister of Oddo BHF stands free trade zone, and we see the enor- ase the risks on the stock market.
out with his dynamic strategy in the mous potential that this region offers,» We expect a consolidation phase
three-year view. He believes in strong he says. until spring.» There are entry opportu-
economic growth in 2021 and predicts nities for late deciders. Fischer: «This
a resurrection of value stocks in this OPPORTUNITIES FOR LAGGARDS phase is interesting for acquisitions.
environment after the long outperfor- Kay Fischer, chief investor of Helve- Afterwards, we see markets clearly ri-
mance of growth stocks. Oddo BHF is tic Trust, is more sceptical than his ri- sing again.» The never-ending central
in the process of adjusting its portfo- vals: «We have reached a level from bank stimulus in combination with the
lios. Pfister believes that the issues of which the stock markets will not conti- improved economic outlook is having
inflation and debt are coming into fo- nue to rise uninterruptedly.» The CIO a positive effect. Fischer focuses on
sustainable companies. Bruno Milesi
sees renewable energies as one of the
megatrends that were accelerated by
Corona and will continue beyond the
In such a turbulent stock market crisis. The same applies to gaming,
cloud computing, cybersecurity, e-
year as 2020, you could make a commerce and automation, he said.
Overall, he sees the US markets at an
lot of mistakes as a professional advantage compared to the European
money manager.
ones. The profit growth of companies
will be decisive in 2021.
5Awards from Lakefield Partners in Bilanz’s asset
manager rating
Rank Risk Category Timeframe
1 «Conservative» over 60 months
3 «Balanced» over 60 months
2021
1 «Moderate dynamic» over 60 months
1 «Dynamic» over 60 months
1 «Moderate dynamic» over 60 months
2020 1 «Dynamic» over 60 months
3 «Balanced» over 60 months
1 «Dynamic» over 60 months
2019
3 «Balanced» over 60 months
2018 1 «Moderate dynamic» over 36 months
1 «Moderate dynamic» over 36 months
2017
2 «Conservative» over 36 months
2016 1 «Conservative» over 36 months
Public funds for investors managed by Lakefield Partners
Investment class Fund Name ISIN
Equities Lakefield Swiss Large Cap Equity LU1441982045
Lakefield Swiss Mid & Small Cap Equity LU1441977045
Lakefield Dynamic World Equity LU1225541801
Lakefield Swiss Equity Risk Controlled CH0435113698
Fixed income Lakefield Dynamic Global Bond LU1225540076
Multi asset Lakefield Dynamic Global Core LU0618382104
Alternatives Lakefield Swiss Equity long/short LU1543686478
Lakefield Part
ners is a
FINMA-regula
ted asset ma
that supports nager
private and in
Seefeldstrasse 281 investors in ach st itu tional
8008 Zürich ieving their
investment ob
Tel. 043 500 4000 jectives.
info@lakefieldpartners.com
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