Felix Kottman, executive vice president of St Gallen-based Swiss consultants Complementa, has launched managerselection.com - a new internet based data platform for pension funds, consultants and asset management companies.
Using on-line databases and checklists, managerselection.com aims to provide information to investors such as manager-specific risk, style and the diversification benefits of certain products.
The database will be fully transparent, neutral and objective, the company says, with no input from consultants or via any preferred partnership arrangement.
Kottmann, now president managing director of managerselection.com, will remain with Complementa. He is joined at the new venture by Michael Brandenberger as chairman managing director – also a fellow board member at Complementa.
“ We believe the approach we have can really improve and speed up the process of putting together a list of finalists for a manager search. We are doing the dirty work that institutional investors would have to do themselves otherwise,”Brandenberger comments. “However, we don’t think managerselection.com is a tool to do the whole selection process and
we believe that interviews in
advance, for example, are still really important,” he adds.
The firm is currently marketing the service around Europe following its full launch on November 21.
Participation in the database is free, although charges are made for tailored services such as the online ‘flagship universe analysis’ for peer group comparison by asset managers.
“ There is no fee for putting information into the system but we do charge $20,000 annual subscription for the tailored service, although there are no disadvantages for managers which do not subscribe to this,” comments Brandenberger
A provisional subscription fee for institutional investors and consultants to access the database has been put at $3,000. He notes that Swiss pension funds will be the first targets on the investor side but adds that particular
opportunity markets for managerselection.com will be the Netherlands, UK, Austria, Italy and further down the line - Germany.
“ Interest has been good so far and the database is growing quickly. Subscribers are now in the process of putting up their information