Fiera Capital (UK)

Control shifted dramatically in October 2024 when a management group led by Jean-Guy Desjardins partnered with Sagard, the investment platform of the Desmarais family's Power Corporation of Canada, to take the firm private. Before the transaction, Fiera Capital was publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The deal consolidated control with the founding management team and the Desmarais family ecosystem.

Fiera Capital acquires or partners with specialized investment boutiques, allowing each affiliate to retain its own investment process, culture, and brand identity. The parent provides centralized distribution, compliance, risk management, and back-office functions. This structure addresses the succession and capital-raising challenges of founder-led asset managers while giving institutional clients access to niche strategies through a single relationship managed by the London office for European allocators.

The London office serves as the regulated European distribution and client service hub for Fiera Capital's global strategies. It channels UK and continental European institutional mandates into the parent's equity, fixed income, real estate, and infrastructure capabilities. The office also houses investment professionals supporting the European real estate platform, which grew substantially through the acquisition of Palmer Capital.

Fiera Capital offers both commingled fund structures and separately managed accounts, depending on the asset class and client preference. Its real estate and infrastructure strategies operate through closed-end and open-end fund vehicles, while fixed income and equity mandates are frequently delivered via segregated accounts for larger institutional clients. The UK entity markets the full range of structures to European pension funds, insurers, and sovereign wealth funds.

In private markets, Fiera Capital focuses on direct real estate equity across core, value-add, and opportunistic strategies, alongside direct infrastructure equity targeting mature operating assets. The firm does not operate a venture capital or growth equity platform. Its private credit activities focus on middle-market direct lending, primarily in North America, with select European exposure.

The relationship formalized in 2024 when Sagard, the alternative investment platform backed by Power Corporation of Canada, partnered with management to take Fiera Capital private. Power Corporation, controlled by the Desmarais family, has long been one of Canada's most influential financial holding companies, with interests spanning insurance, asset management, and alternative investments. The transaction integrated Fiera Capital into that broader ecosystem while preserving its independent brand.

The European real estate platform, anchored by the legacy Palmer Capital team, sources deals through a network of local operating partners across the UK and continental Europe. The model pairs central capital allocation with on-the-ground developers and asset managers who originate and execute individual property investments. This partnership model is distinct from fully vertically integrated real estate managers.