LGT Group's alternatives, impact investing and private banking businesses will be split into three standalone units, to be held directly by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein's foundation.
Alternatives manager LGT Capital Partners, which has $60 billion in assets under management from more than 550 institutional clients in 37 countries, "aims to make greater inroads in its global expansion, further develop its product offering for institutional investors, and further build out its market and investment expertise and its thought leadership in the sustainable and alternative investments space," a news release said.
For the firm's impact investment unit, LGT Lightstone, executives plan to make its $500 million investment portfolio "accessible to external investors via a fund structure in the fourth quarter of 2020," the release said. The unit's portfolio is invested in about 50 companies.
LGT will dissolve the group structure and the three units will have their own legal structures with their own holding companies, which will be controlled by the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, a spokesman for LGT said.
The organizational changes become effective in January.
The strong international growth that LGT has experienced — especially over the past five years — has made it more complex to manage the three units under one structure, the spokesman added. "The overlap and the synergies between the three business units have also decreased over time," he said in an email.
The changes coincide with the retirement of Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein as group chairman. Prince Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein, group CEO, will become chairman of the three standalone units. The change is also effective at the beginning of 2021.
Roberto Paganoni remains CEO of LGT Capital Partners, while Lightstone will continue to be managed by its existing partners. LGT does not expect any redundancies related to the reorganization.
"Positioning LGT Private Banking, LGT Capital Partners and Lightstone as independent companies will allow the three businesses to develop their strategy in line with their specific needs and in response to the changing market conditions," Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein said in the release. "A clear strategic focus with corresponding corporate governance for the three companies will result in greater agility, transparency and efficiency, as well as more flexibility. This will enable us to even better bring to bear LGT's strengths for the respective clients, employees and other stakeholders, while remaining committed to our shared history and values as well as to a long-term sustainable development."
