Capital Dynamics (global asset manager)

Capital Dynamics (also known as CapDyn) is a Swiss-based asset management company that invests in private equity and clean energy infrastructure. It manages investments through a broad range of products including separate accounts, private equity funds and structured private equity products. As of December 31, 2015, Capital Dynamics has over USD 25 billion in assets under management/advisement/administration. The firm's investment history dates back to 1988. Capital Dynamics operates globally from offices in London, New York City, Zug, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Munich, Birmingham, Seoul and Scottsdale.

Key people

• Thomas Kubr, founding CEO and Executive Chairman of the Board
• Martin Hahn, Managing Director, Head of Business Development and President of the Executive Committee
• John Gripton, Managing Director and Chairman of the Global Investment Committee
• Angela Willetts, Managing Director in Investment Management, Co-Head of Private Equity Investment Management and member of the Investment and Executive Committees
• Andrew Bernstein, Managing Director in Investment Management, Co-Head of Private Equity Investment Management and member of the Executive Committee
• John Breckenridge, Managing Director, Head of Clean Energy and Infrastructure in Investment Management and member of the Executive Committee
• George Georgiou, COO
• Emma Anderson, CFO
• Harald Zeiter, Managing Director, General Counsel, Head of Legal and Compliance and member of the Executive Committee

Investment programs

Primary fund investments – Targets investments in mid-market funds across the globe primarily in buyout, specialist, turnaround, venture capital and growth, with a focus on private equity managers with experienced teams, strong track records and well-established networks for generating high-quality deal flow.

Secondary fund investments – Targets smaller transactions of secondary private equity purchases that are predominantly sourced directly to capture attractive prices, and builds a diversified portfolio across vintages, geographies, investment strategies, managers and industries.

Direct investments – Co-investment strategy focuses on buyouts of mid-market companies with a global or multi-country sales presence, but also includes select development capital and special situations.

Clean Energy and Infrastructure (CEI) – Focuses on investing directly in proven clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, small hydro and landfill gas across the globe.

Customized investment solutions

Separate accounts – Tailors individual investment programs to meet clients' unique risk profiles and liquidity parameters. Offers legal structuring services to meet the regulatory, tax and compliance obligations for each separate account client.

Structured products – Customizing structured solutions to deliver benefits such as early liquidity, enhanced return on investment, reduced risk, lower open commitments and/or decreased risk-weighted capital reserves.

Specialties

Capital Dynamics developed proprietary portfolio risk management methodologies that have been adopted by rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's for evaluating risk and collateral requirements for securities collateralized by private equity. In addition, the firm has developed a number of proprietary patented benchmarking and performance-measurement models used to quantitatively evaluate private equity portfolios such as Public Market Equivalent Plus (PME+). PME+ provides a comparison with public markets by comparing the performance of a private equity portfolio to the public market, as represented by the performance of a given public index.

Capital Dynamics is an active member of the wider private equity community. The firm was a contributor to the European Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (EVCA) "Private Equity Risk Measurement Guidelines" and to Solvency II rules for the creation of internal models for insurance companies and occupational pension funds in Europe. Working with the British Venture Capital Association, Capital Dynamics helped author the BVCA Guide to Responsible Investment and the new Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Disclosure Framework for Private Equity released in March 2013. Capital Dynamics has earned awards over the years from industry publications such as Financial News , Private Equity News and Thomson Reuters .

Recently published joint findings include:

• Value Creation in Private Equity - New joint research findings from the Technical University of Munich and Capital Dynamics, conducted with the Technical University of Munich (2014)
• Team Stability and Performance in Private Equity, conducted with the London Business School’s Coller Institute of Private Equity (2013)
• Value Creation in Danish Private Equity, conducted for the Danish Venture Capital Association (2011)
• Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies at the Technical University of Munich Value Creation in Private Equity, conducted with the Technical University of Munich (2009)

External links

• Capital Dynamics company website
• AltExchange Alliance (Capital Dynamics is a founding member of the AltExchange Alliance for the private equity industry)
• United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (Capital Dynamics became a signatory in 2008)
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Financial Conduct Authority

References