Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management

The listed structure traded at a persistent discount to net asset value, which attracted activist investors who pushed for an NAV-tender or liquidation. After years of shareholder battles, the board agreed to wind down the SICAV and return capital, while the founders continued managing assets in private credit strategies without the discount problem.

Emmanuel Boussard remains the Chief Investment Officer responsible for portfolio construction. He built the original arbitrage book at Paribas alongside co-founder Emmanuel Gavaudan, who now serves as CEO. The firm's decisions are concentrated across this small, partnership-scale leadership group.

The firm engages in both direct lending and distressed credit acquisitions, as well as commitments to specialized credit fund managers. This dual approach allows exposure to credit strategies that benefit from local origination networks while also pursuing proprietary deals in special situations.

Historically, the firm sourced arbitrage and volatility trades through investment bank prime brokerage desks and synthetic derivative markets. The post-2023 credit strategy relies more on direct relationships with borrowers, intermediaries in European middle-market lending, and secondary market brokers for loan portfolios — a fundamentally different origination model.