GAM Investments

GAM operates primarily as a fund-of-funds, selecting external private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure managers and committing client capital to their funds. It also builds concentrated co-investment sleeves alongside those GPs, allowing direct exposure to specific assets. The firm does not run its own direct private equity deal teams — its edge is manager selection and co-investment underwriting.

GAM suffered significant outflows after suspending a star fixed-income manager in 2018, triggering a multi-year restructuring that eroded its AUM base from over CHF 150 billion to roughly CHF 60 billion. The private-markets fund-of-funds business was relatively insulated operationally but faced second-order pressure as the parent company's crisis of confidence affected institutional relationships. The 2023 Liontrust acquisition effectively closed that chapter.

Partially. GAM's fund-of-funds model overlaps with Hamilton Lane's advisory and fund-of-funds mandates, but GAM lacks the direct investment and GP stakes businesses that define Partners Group. GAM's client base skews more toward European private banks and Swiss institutional mandates, whereas Partners Group and Hamilton Lane compete globally across sovereign wealth and pension channels.

Liontrust, a UK-listed asset manager focused on equities and multi-asset funds, acquired GAM in 2023 in an all-share deal. The private-markets unit continued to operate under the GAM brand post-acquisition. The strategic logic was distribution cross-selling — Liontrust gaining access to GAM's European private-banking relationships, while GAM's fund-of-funds platform adds private-markets expertise to Liontrust's predominantly public-markets product shelf.

GAM actively builds co-investment portfolios as part of its fund-of-funds mandates, using the GP relationships it cultivates through primary fund commitments to source co-investment opportunities. Ticket sizes are generally modest — in the single-digit millions — reflecting the firm's focus on wholesale and private-bank clients rather than large sovereign or pension mandates that write $50 million-plus co-investment checks.