Assets
DKKbn

2018
1.7
2019
2.1
2020
2.2
2021
2.5
2022
2.3

Return
ROA %

2018
-4
2019
11
2020
6
2021
17
2022
-7

About

Financial Investments

Financial Investments constitute the traditional part of asset management at Kirk Kapital. We manage the investments through Kirk Kapital Fondsmæglerselskab, where we manage the above assets of Kirk Kapital, as well as a number of external portfolios.

How we invest

Focus on portfolio construction

We invest globally without regard to geography and in all known asset classes, including hedge funds, private equity, real estate and forestry. We outsource securities selection, and our focus is on portfolio construction, manager selection and risk management. We work with some of the world’s best asset managers.

We currently manage 20 portfolios for five families and one charitable foundation, with total assets of approximately DKK 8 billion. We offer tailor-made solutions for each client, taking into account business activities and other assets to ensure the right risk profile.

Our strengths lie not least in our independence, which allows us to choose the best solutions for our partners, and in our family-based ownership with a multi-generational focus.


At Kirk Kapital Fondsmæglerselskab, we operate with time horizons that span several generations. We therefore associate investment with patience and discipline.

For us, investing is first and foremost about getting paid for taking risks: Any risk beyond a safe investment in the money market requires compensation in the form of a higher expected return. And because as long-term investors we can absorb periodic losses, we can undertake risks for as high compensation as possible.

In investment terms, we call that compensation a premium – a premium that we,  demand to receive for the associated risks. We like to say that as long-term investors, we reap risk premia over time. This is at the heart of our investment philosophy.

This philosophy stems from the view that financial markets are efficient over the long term and that there is a rational relationship between the expected return on an asset and the associated risk.

This means that we appreciate the returns that can be achieved by investing passively in the financial markets. We call it a market return. In the long term, market returns are highly sought after, and many investors have to settle for less.

However, this does not deter us from seeking superior, risk-adjusted returns. One source of this may be our investments in illiquid asset classes such as private equity and hedge funds. Another source is a tactical rotation between asset classes, taking advantage of the fact that different economic cycles reward various types of investments differently over time.


We have a strong focus on alternatives, such as private equity, and have built new programmes for a number of our partners in recent years.


Our cost structure is completely transparent, with a fixed fee on AUM payment and no hidden fees or kickbacks to us from our counter parts. All economies of scale in terms of lower costs to external asset managers, brokerage fees and custody fees automatically accrue to all our clients. This way, we are more like a club than a conventional asset manager, and we have no internally managed products to take precedence in portfolios.


We offer our clients a free choice of custodian banks, and we execute our transactions through several trading counterparties. We attend to all transactions, including calls and distributions from private equity funds, and provide daily access to portfolios through an online reporting tool.


We are regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and we meet formal requirements such as the certification of our portfolio managers.


ESG

How we work with sustainability

Kirk Kapital Fondsmæglerselskab is a long-term investor focused on generating returns based on responsible considerations and initiatives. We have implemented a responsible investment policy based on our membership of the UN Global Compact and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). We are members of various networking forums such as DANSIF and the Danish Finance Association’s ESG network, while we seek to be active owners by engaging with investment committees and ESG advisory boards.
We aim to support sustainable development through our investments. On the one hand, our strategy in this area is about protecting our investments against climate risks, for example, and on the other hand, about contributing to sustainable solutions.
We have established an ESG Committee of both internal and external members to set the strategic level of ambition.

Portfolio allocation

How we invest

15%

Fixed Income

We always have bonds in our portfolios, even for the most risk seeking ones. First, adding bonds to an equity portfolio can raise the risk adjusted return. And second, bonds may serve as a liquid cash reserve.

We mainly invest in Danish government and mortgage bonds, but we also invest in corporate bonds and emerging market bonds.

45%

Equities

Listed equities is a significant building block in our portfolios. We create well diversified equity portfolios by combining outsourced actively managed strategies with low-cost index funds and ETF’s that track specific regions, sectors, or equity factors like value and momentum.

10%

Liquid alternatives

We use hedge funds to gain exposure to trading strategies that aren’t just “long” a market risk, such as equities or bonds. Hedge funds can mean many things, but can be seen as seeking an absolute return with a low correlation to other assets in our portfolios.

30%

Private Markets

Private markets is a term for investments in non-liquid assets that are not listed on exchanges, for example private equity, private debt, infrastructure and real estate.

To compensate for the loss of liquidity we expect superior risk adjusted returns.

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