Alternative Investment Firm Taps Into Australian Market

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

16 February 2005

Zurich-based fund of hedge funds manager Infiniti Capital has extended its reach into the relatively untapped Australasian market with its acquisition of a majority shareholding in alternative fund specialist Martini Capital Limited, a privately owned offshore and on-shore investment management group,

“This is an exciting development for Infiniti as part of our growth plans for Australasia and will add to our asset management, product structuring and distribution capabilities,” commented Infiniti Capital’s Chief Operating Officer, Kenji Steven.

“It is rare indeed to find such an outstanding group of high calibre, high integrity individuals in one firm and we felt that their strong quantitative focus complemented and was a natural fit with our more qualitative manager selection processes,” Steven added.

Meanwhile, Anric Blatt, CEO of Infiniti, observed that:

“Extremely attractive and uncorrelated returns are being delivered by Asian and Australian managers and Infiniti has recently witnessed a surge in demand from Australian and New Zealand institutional investors. We already have a regional office in Hong Kong with allocations to around 20 Asian emerging managers. Our investment in Martini Capital re-affirms our commitment to this region.”

Infiniti Capital is a part of the Infiniti Group, an independent financial services firm headquartered in Zurich with offices and distributors located in various international financial centres.

The group, which advises on over $1.7 billion in client assets, specialises in the international alternative investment industry through three main divisions, including hedge fund of funds, structured products and private equity/venture capital.

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