Palmer Capital has established an office in Hong Kong as it looks to tap into the flow of capital from East to West.
The venture capital and fund management firm has bought 50% of a Hong Kong-based property investment management company, Emboss Capital, which has been rebranded as Palmer Capital Asia.
Since the deal with the three-strong firm co-founded in 2009 by Simon Tyrrell, it has won a new $100m (£65m) fund management mandate (see box).
Opening the Asian outpost allows the company, which has offices in London and Munich, to tap into the equity-rich Far Eastern capital markets, as well as serving as a gateway to the East for UK and European investors.
It will initially align itself with Asia-based high-net-worth and family office investors from China, Hong Kong and Japan to invest in the UK.
Chief executive Alex Price said: “Against a background of global volatility, investors from emerging markets want to find safe havens which offer wealth preservation.
“They are looking to institutionalise their portfolios. In addition, the strong Asian currencies make for great purchasing power.”
PCA will also look to work with UK and European investors who have underperforming assets in the Asia region that need management.
At Emboss, Tyrrell has previously worked on the restructuring of the Belgravia China Fund in parallel to Palmer Capital’s own restructuring work out of the €115m (£95.5m) Belgravia European Property Fund.
PCA will also work with Western investors who are looking to diversify their portfolios into the Asia region, although it expects that this will be the second phase of its operations.
The longer-term goal is to replicate the European business with both a fund management and venture capital division.
