Spanish asset manager March Gestión is launching a fund that will invest solely in family businesses, which it claims are likely to be solid, stable and focused on long-term objectives.
The fund will invest in listed companies which are more than 25%-owned by a single family, where at least one family member is in the top management and where there is a willingness to pass on ownership to the next generation.
“The characteristics of family businesses: long term view, commitment, loyalty, motivation and low leverage; make them solid and stable businesses in the long run compared to other non-family companies, as has been proven crisis after crisis,” said José Luis Jiménez, chief executive of March Gestión.
The Ucits IV fund will be managed by Javier Pérez and José Antonio Méndez. It is available for sale in Spain, Italy and Luxembourg and is currently being registered in the UK, Switzerland and Austria.
March Gestión estimates that four-fifths of businesses are family-run and that family businesses account for 15% of the S&P 500 and Stoxx600 indices. March Gestión is the asset management unit of Spanish bank Banca March, which is itself a family-owned business.
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