Earlier this week, one affiliate of Carneo – the largest independent asset manager in the Nordics – was swallowed up by another. The deal does nothing to contribute to the AM's ambitions of doubling its size.

Carnegie Fonder takes over SEK 4bn of OPM (Optimized Portfolio Management), which was founded in 2003 and today manages three funds with OPM Listed Private Equity holding around SEK 3bn.

"The investment philosophy and strategy of the three OPM funds are very similar to those at Carnegie Fonder. The funds also complement the current supply of funds at Carnegie Fonder. Therefore, we believe that this will be a good fit," Carneo's CEO Christoffer Folkebo tells AMWatch in a written comment.

Customer knowledge

The deal is a good fit for the future ambitions of Carnegie Fonder, which currently holds SEK 86bn under management and plans to grow even further.

This will also help the OPM funds grow, and their names will be changes, Folkebo states.

"By becoming a part of Carnegie Fonder the funds are getting access to distribution channels and a well-known platform, which will hopefully increase customer knowledge on these products," he writes.

This means that OPM, founded in 2003 by fund manager Simon Reinius, will cease to exist.

"The OPM funds have been part of our platform company CAAM Fund Services. CAAM Fund Services will remain, but the OPM brand will no longer be used once the funds have found their new home within Carnegie Fonder," Folkebo explains.

Ongoing dialog

In 2019, Folkebo announced that Carneo had an ambition to double its business to EUR 50bn over the next five years. Back then, Carneo had just taken over means from the Swedish Alfred Berg brand totaling at an amount close to EUR 1bn in AUM.

Since then, no further acquisitions have been made, and the AUM has shrunk a little to EUR 24.9bn (SEK 253bn). However, the major plans have not been scrapped.

"These things take time. The recent market turbulence has not helped, but we are in an ongoing dialog with potential candidates," Folkebo writes.

English Edit: Nielsine Nielsen

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