Centaur is a large and active institutional investor in the wealth management and private client retail investment advisory sectors and is currently evaluating several acquisition and expansion opportunities in the offshore markets, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK. We have invested in the sector based on our belief that the sector is poised for substantial growth in the coming years related to new and improved technology and internet based advancements.
VENTURE CAPITAL
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Centaur announced the successful sale of its shareholding in Credence Ltd in December 2016, realising a 3 x multiple on investment in less than 3 years from original investment to exit.
As a brief background and overview; we invest into companies with strong management teams, including startups and established companies and we work closely with the founders and management teams that we invest into, providing the tools and resources they need to build lasting capabilities and a competitive advantage.
Credence Ltd was one such company within the current Centaur portfolio. Credence operated as a private client retail investment advisory business for the market between top tier private banks and retail financial planning businesses for expatriate or offshore HNW and UHNW expat clients living worldwide and had achieved year on year growth in both the number of clients and total AUM whilst building intrinsic value for its shareholders.
Credence served clients based in the GCC, US, Europe, Far East, Asia and South Africa that typically had more than $500,000 USD in investable assets.
Credence also served professional investor clients with lower net worth than aforementioned but with the benefit of substantial salary packages, such as offshore oil and gas workers, who required regular savings plans, tax efficient savings products and access to investment advisory services.
CREDENCE PRODUCTS
- Lump sum Personal Portfolio Bond (“PPB”) – The PPB is a product which is structured, provided and administered by institutions such as Royal Skandia, RL360, Generali International and Friends Provident International whereby a client invests a lump sum amount of money for tax planning reasons coupled with the ability to trade into ETF’s, Unit trusts, Cash deposits, Structured products, and discretionary portfolios.
- Regular savings plans – A regular monthly investment to save towards a specified event such as children’s education, retirement provision or any specific financial milestone. Regular savings plans are structured, provided and administered by providers such as Royal Skandia, RL360, Generali International, Zurich and Friends Provident.
- Fund/structured products – Credence markets select funds and/or structured products which are structured, packaged and administered by institutional clients such as EFG Hermes, JP Morgan and Fidelity for clients looking for this type of investment exposure.
DIVERSIFIED FOCUS
Centaur has a diversified sector focus ranging from asset management, wealth management, private equity, venture capital, trade finance, mining and natural resources and agricultural investments.
FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS
Centaur believes that very rarely are 2 venture capital transactions identical and as such is willing to work with the management teams and companies we invest into to structure investment and support that is both flexible on the financial terms, yet well planned and structured on what we expect from the companies we invest into.
BUILDING SOLID RELATIONSHIPS
Striving to fully understand our clients’ needs, keeping in close communication throughout the relationship and providing an educational framework to our clients to fully understand the financial commitments and decisions they make leading to positive outcomes and long fruitful relationships.