GAM Investments

Who we are

GAM was established in 1983 by visionary founder Gilbert de Botton, to provide clients with access to talented investment managers from around the world. He established our distinctive investment approach, and was one of the first to recognise the benefits to clients of open architecture investing.

Today GAM is an independent asset management company providing active investment solutions and products for private clients, institutions and financial intermediaries. GAM employs around 900 people in 14 countries with investment centres in London, Cambridge, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Lugano and Milan. 

What we do

Our approach is distinctively active and alternative. We believe that investment talent is widespread, and that no single firm can attract all the most successful fund managers. We offer clients breadth and depth of investment talent through our in-house investment teams and external managers. We are not drawn to brand names and work diligently and with integrity to provide our clients with access to investment opportunities globally and often in niche, overlooked areas. 

Our investment process is simple and transparent: fundamental asset class views are guided by the independent Asset Allocation Committee, safe in the knowledge that asset allocation is the principal driver of long term returns. With the top-level asset allocation determined, we work closely with our dedicated Manager Research Team to populate client portfolios with our highest conviction active managers and passive vehicles as appropriate. To this end, we partner with our clients to help them achieve their financial goals across a range of risk profiles and requirements.

Addressing your Requirements

• GAM is a pioneer of open architecture investment strategies, with over 30 years’ experience working with clients and their advisers to meet a wide range of investment objectives. 
• We are a leading provider of specialist and traditional funds with GBP 103.4 billion in AUM as at 31 December 2019. We are also experts in building investment portfolios and selecting external investment managers. Since 1989, our highly experienced, dedicated Manager Research Team has been researching talented managers and monitoring progress against our expectations.
• Well-informed, active asset allocation is the single largest determinant of long-term investment performance. The dedicated Asset Allocation Committee has extensive experience across asset classes, macro policy dynamics and multiple market cycles. This allows them to inform the optimal combination of assets, factors and sectors to meet your objectives in a risk-controlled manner.
• Our portfolios are constructed on the basis that equities are a sound proxy for human progress and deliver strong returns over time. Client risk profiling then determines the allocation to capital preservation assets which can smooth out equity volatility while generating independent returns.

• GAM is pragmatic rather than dogmatic regarding the active-passive debate. We will incur fees for active managers only where we feel that it can make a meaningful positive impact. Otherwise, we will use the wide range of passive and smart beta funds now available to investors for gaining exposures that best articulate our asset class, regional and thematic preferences. 
• Risk management is integrated throughout each stage of our process. The risk team deploy advanced systems that capture full transparency of underlying manager holdings, aggregate correlation and risk factor data across managers prior to investment. In addition, operational risk staff ensure we maintain the highest standards of operational infrastructure in terms of dealing, execution and administration.
• We place great emphasis on the quality of service to clients; Our service not only includes prompt and clear responses to queries, but also incorporates the regular paper reporting cycle, electronic access to the portfolio, ad-hoc valuation and commentary requests, on-going telephone queries and regular face-to-face investment reviews. We also run a diverse programme of relevant events, guest speakers and educational seminars for our clients.