Who we are
VAR Capital was set up an boutique asset manager for a single British family in 2011. In 2015, it relaunched as a full fledged asset manager and a multi-family office. Based in Mayfair, London, VAR Capital has clients from across the globe, include Europe, Africa and Asia.
We are differentiated by the following factors:
- Independence: we are independent of banks and other service providers.
- Fees: our fees are aligned with performance, and we have no incentive to sell "products".
- Capital preservation: using dynamic asset allocation and event driven investing, we aim to reduce volatility of performance.
VAR Capital works closely with trust companies on managing wealth for complex structures, companies and foundations across jurisdictions. We understand the complexities of wealth planning and inter-generational wealth transfer. We draw upon our experiences from our founding families and helping them manage and grow their wealth.
Each client has a bespoke portfolio, in their own name and control. We work with custodians where we have preferred pricing arrangements; we can also work with a custodian of the client's choice. We are happy to review existing portfolios in terms of risk, costs and alignment with objectives. We provide our initial thoughts without any commitments.
Client reference requests are welcome.
What we do
Our investment philosophy is built upon the following four factors:
- Capital preservation under all market conditions.
- Diversification by asset class and geographies.
- Value, thematic and event driven investing and bottom up analysis.
- Direct, single line trades where possible, avoiding layers of fees.
We are able to create bespoke portfolios with an ESG (environment, social and governance) filter, if required. Our investment process is as below:
- Define asset allocation and risk metrics based on the client's needs and objectives and our medium term macro-economic outlook.
- Select securities using short and medium term themes, potential events (e.g. company sale) and value investing.
- Apply any relevant filters such as tax issues (e.g. Resident Non-Domicile), ESG or Sharia compliance.
- Implement the portfolio, and monitor risks, performance and costs on an ongoing basis.
VAR Capital's security selection strategy aims to achieve well balanced and diversified portfolios. This aims to achieve superior returns with lower levels of volatility. Our security selection comprises three strategies:
- Thematic investment ideas are generated by a top-down approach centred either around tactical macroeconomic or political themes (e.g. US elections, US-China trade war, Brexit), as well as more strategic and longer structural shifts transforming the world (AI, green energy etc.)
- Event driven investments exploit pricing inefficiencies based on events such as regulatory changes, changes in business models, post-bankruptcy situations or a corporate event such as restructurings, M&A or spin-offs
- Value - Most of our Value investments are stocks or bonds trading at a discount to peers, to its longer term trend or to its intrinsic value. However, unlike traditional Value investors, VAR Capital avoids structurally challenged securities or industries even if their valuations look extremely depressed (e.g. traditional retail, tobacco companies etc.).
VAR Capital typically invests in single line equities, bonds and ETFs. We have a dynamic approach to asset allocation. This allows us to adapt to an ever changing world, whilst adhering to rigorous risk management principles.
While we submit our data for GBP Medium risk, we also manage portfolios in USD, EUR and other currencies where we have a track record of strong risk adjusted return.
