Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management

Co-founders Jonathan Bloch and Simon Schultz lead the firm's investment strategy and deal origination. Bloch, based in London, oversees the UK fund governance and investor relations, while Schultz, operating from Johannesburg, runs the South African deal-sourcing and portfolio management teams. The firm maintains investment committees for each strategy, combining the two principals' oversight with local asset-class specialists.

Westbrooke sources South African private debt and equity opportunities through long-standing relationships with local business owners, commercial banks, and Johannesburg-based intermediaries. The firm focuses on succession-driven buyouts and mezzanine lending to mid-market companies that fall below the minimum ticket size of major domestic banks. This origination model relies on decades of combined principal-level networks rather than auction processes, which the firm argues yields better entry pricing and structuring leverage.

Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management is a multi-strategy asset manager, not a family office. It raises capital from institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals primarily in the UK and South Africa, deploying that capital across four distinct yield-focused commingled funds. The firm does not manage a single family's wealth and operates under FCA regulation for its UK-domiciled vehicles.

Westbrooke executes direct investments exclusively — both self-originated private credit loans and direct real estate acquisitions. The firm does not operate as a fund-of-funds and does not commit capital to third-party GPs. Its private equity arm, Westbrooke Capital Partners, pursues direct buyouts of South African owner-operated businesses rather than backing external fund managers.

In private credit, Westbrooke targets mature, cash-flowing lower-middle-market companies in the UK and South Africa requiring senior or mezzanine financing — not venture-stage businesses. Its private equity buyout strategy focuses on succession-driven acquisitions of established South African businesses with predictable revenue streams. The real estate strategies concentrate on income-producing assets (build-to-rent housing and industrial logistics) rather than development-stage projects, unless pre-let to creditworthy tenants.

Westbrooke avoids venture capital, early-stage technology, and speculative real estate development. The firm does not invest in listed equities, commodities, or hedge fund strategies. In private credit, it steers clear of consumer lending and unsecured SME loans, concentrating exclusively on asset-backed or cash-flow-secured senior and mezzanine debt. Its real estate arm does not pursue hospitality, retail, or office assets, focusing strictly on residential and industrial yield.

Westbrooke's UK vehicles are regulated by the FCA, providing institutional investors with London-standard fund governance, reporting, and investor protections. The firm's Johannesburg office originates, underwrites, and manages South African investments with local market expertise that London-based managers typically cannot replicate. This dual-jurisdiction structure means investors access rand-denominated private-market yield through a regulated fund wrapper rather than taking direct emerging-market custody and operational risk.