Unigestion loses Asia Pacific private equity head

Marchand (pictured) is based in Singapore and plans to remain in the region, although he has yet to accept a new role, according to a source familiar with the situation. Unigestion is said to be in the process of looking for a replacement.

Having joined Unigestion in 2012, Marchand initially worked out of Geneva, making primary fund, secondary and direct investments. He started covering Asia in 2014 and moved to Singapore in 2015 for a two-year stint. He relocated to the country once again in 2019.

Before Unigestion, Marchand spent nearly two years with CDC Group as an investment manager primarily covering the development finance institution’s India and Southeast Asia private equity interests. He began his career with GE Capital, ultimately working on the European fund-of-funds and financial services strategies.

Unigestion has $22.9 billion in assets under management across private and public equities, liquid alternatives, and multi-asset strategies, with more than half of its global capital managed through bespoke mandates or separately managed accounts. Private equity accounts for $7.2 billion.

The firm established a Singapore office in 2007. Over the subsequent 12 years, it invested around $750 million in private equity in Asia, with the pace of commitments increasing with time.

GP relationships in the region include large-cap, multi-jurisdictional players like KKR and Affinity Equity Partners as well as managers oriented toward certain markets, such as India and Southeast Asia’s Everstone Capital, Australia’s Next Capital, and South Korea’s Hahn & Company. The firm also embraces more sector-specific strategies, including healthcare with India’s Invascent Capital and energy and infrastructure with Equis Group.

Speaking to AVCJ last year, Marchand noted that clients are often caught between the opportunities presented by Asia’s rapidly growing economies and concerns about governance standards, the availability of exits, and managers’ value creation capabilities. However, many of these investors don’t initially recognize the diversity within Asia.

“I tell people that investing in Asia is like investing in Europe, with a remit that goes from the UK to Moldova from a GDP per capita perspective – the difference is that the Moldova-like countries in terms of development stage are growing at around 10% per year, which is not the case in Europe,” Marchand said. “By drawing that parallel I think people should realize how vast the landscape is, both from a growth perspective and from a risk perspective.”

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• Topics
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• Southeast Asia
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• Unigestion
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