Investment Management Company Sees The Bahamas Well Positioned For Continued Growth of the Fund Industry
According to RMF Investment Products (Bahamas) Ltd., *”the important role of globalisation and a tax status quite favourable to investors”*, will see further substantial growth of the fund industry in The Bahamas over the next 3-5 years. The industry is expected to become very well developed, and RMF hopes to play an important role in maintaining and improving the product here.
The RMF Investment Group was created and founded in 1991, as an operative Hedge Fund with an exclusive mandate for one of the world’s most prestigious market neutral Hedge Funds. With an exclusive focus on alternative investment management, RMF Investment Group has had an incredible first 10 years. With offices in New York, London, Zurich and Nassau, Bahamas, the entrepreneurial spirit of RMF, combined with the backing of very strong strategic partners and shareholders Rentenanstalt/Swiss Life, Winterthur Life, Bâloise-Holding and Gothaer Versicherungen, positions the Group uniquely to benefit from the secular growth of the Alternative Investment management industry in the years to come.
Thomas Ledergerber, CEO of RMF Bahamas, says, *”We provide innovative investment solutions for alternative investment strategies based on investment consulting, investment products and capital markets services. We are focused on serving the needs of institutional investors, and are dedicated to becoming Europe’s leading alternative investment management firm.”* In a professional business-to-business approach, RMF caters to insurance companies, pension funds, banks and large corporations and distribution channels.
Mr. Ledergerber adds, *”Our main focus here in The Bahamas is to act as an investment manager, and growth has been substantial. We have nearly $8.7 billion currently under management, and a substantial part is managed out of our Nassau location. Swiss Financial Services (Bahamas) Ltd. has played an important role in the administration of our funds, which has made our partnership very beneficial.”* The company is licensed as a broker-dealer by The Securities Commission of The Bahamas and maintains a secondary market in some of its fund products. It attributes its success to the extensive knowledge and expertise here and at headquarters in Switzerland, which helps clients to find the right solution in respect to their legal, regulatory, fiscal, liquidity or risk management issues.
RMF has a proven track record of successful partnerships, which allow for know-how transfer, transparency, labelling of products and joint distribution. Swiss Life Hedge Fund Partners, a joint venture between RMF Investment Group and Swiss Life, has a team of 15 people fully integrated into RMF. This partnership is a perfect example of the know-how transfer and allows Swiss Life to develop a successful, more and more RMF-independent profit centre for the management, structuring and distribution of Alternative Investment Strategies under the Swiss Life brand.
*”The mutual fund industry here in The Bahamas is really set to expand in the future, and we are very happy with the high level of sophistication and experience that does exist here,”* concluded Mr. Ledergerber.