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Duet Asset Management
Duet Asset Management was founded by financier Henry Gabay in 2002 and operates from London with additional offices in New York and Accra. The firm emerged in...
Duet Asset Management
Duet Asset Management was founded by financier Henry Gabay in 2002 and operates from London with additional offices in New York and Accra. The firm emerged in the early-2000s wave of multi-strategy global managers and has maintained a deliberately diversified mandate across developed and frontier markets. Its principal, Henry Gabay, previously held senior roles at Commerzbank and Credit Suisse before launching the firm. The firm deploys capital across three primary verticals: private credit, real estate, and infrastructure, often targeting special situations and distressed opportunities. Duet has been an active participant in African markets through its Ghana-based operations, with an emphasis on financial services and infrastructure projects on the continent. The firm also operates a liquid strategies arm, historically including a notable long/short equity hedge fund that gained attention during the global financial crisis for its non-correlated returns. Duet's investment structures include direct lending mandates, real estate acquisitions, and opportunistic credit vehicles. Duet's scale has been difficult to track publicly — the firm does not regularly report AUM. Altss estimates total assets sit in the $2–5B range based on its multi-continental office footprint and the capital intensity of its infrastructure and real estate strategies. In recent years, the firm has maintained a lower public profile, with Gabay and CEO Alain Schibl steering operations away from media coverage. The Accra office links Duet to a network of West African financial institutions and development-finance partnerships. Duet's structural differentiator lies in its dual-footprint model: a London-based hedge fund heritage combined with an on-the-ground African investment platform. While many global managers allocate to emerging markets from a distance, Duet maintains regulated, operational infrastructure in Accra, enabling direct origination in markets where sourcing depends on physical presence rather than desk-top analysis.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2002
AUM
$2–5B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
London
Corporate office
London, United Kingdom
Additional offices
New York, NY, United States · Accra, Ghana
Principals
Henry Gabay
Founder and Chairman
Alain Schibl
Chief Executive Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Duet Asset Management?
Founder Henry Gabay serves as Chairman and is the firm's ultimate investment authority. Day-to-day management is led by CEO Alain Schibl. Gabay's background includes senior derivatives and structured credit roles at Commerzbank and Credit Suisse prior to launching Duet in 2002 (per Bloomberg, 2016).
How is Duet Asset Management structured across its different strategies?
Duet operates as a multi-strategy platform spanning private credit, real estate, infrastructure, and historically, a liquid hedge fund sleeve. The firm's private market activities are concentrated in special situations, direct lending, and property acquisitions, while its African operations in Accra focus on financial services and infrastructure development on the continent.
Does Duet Asset Management operate as a family office or a third-party asset manager?
Duet functions as a third-party asset manager raising capital from institutional and high-net-worth investors globally. It does not operate as a single family office, though its founder Henry Gabay maintains a controlling interest and the firm's private, non-reporting posture shares some characteristics with principals-managed investment firms.
What is Duet's known posture on investments in Africa?
Duet maintains a regulated office in Accra, Ghana, from which it originates direct infrastructure and financial services investments across West Africa. This on-the-ground presence sets it apart from many London-based emerging-market managers who allocate to the region through third-party intermediaries or fund-of-fund structures.
Why is Duet Asset Management's AUM not publicly disclosed?
Duet has historically maintained a low public profile, issuing few press releases and rarely disclosing aggregate asset figures. The firm is not registered with the SEC as a reporting adviser and does not appear to market to the broad institutional public. Altss estimates total assets in the $2–5B range based on its multi-office footprint and the scale of its infrastructure and real estate mandates.
What investment vehicles does Duet offer?
Duet structures its investments through a mix of offshore funds, direct lending mandates, and special purpose vehicles. The firm's liquid strategies historically operated through a Cayman-domiciled hedge fund, while its private credit and real estate activities are typically housed in closed-end vehicles with institutional and family-office co-investors.
How did Duet Asset Management perform during the global financial crisis?
Duet's long/short equity hedge fund was one of the notable performers during the 2008 crisis, delivering positive returns while most equity strategies sustained heavy losses (public record). That period established the firm's reputation for non-correlated returns, though its subsequent pivot toward private markets has made ongoing performance harder to observe from outside.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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