Hedge Fund Awards 2016

http://www.acquisition-intl.com/hedge-fund-awards 108 ~ Best Independent Investment Managers - France & Best French Equity Long/Short Fund: Sycomore L/S Opportunities Founded in 2001, Sycomore Asset Management is principally owned by its founding partners and is one of the leading French independent asset management companies specialised in the fundamental analysis of European equities. We caught up with them to find out more about their innovative investment strategy. Our investment approach is conviction-driven and opportunistic, which has no style, sector or market capital- isation bias. We invest across the full spectrum of Eurozone companies, and our investment philosophy has not changed since the launch of the company in 2001. Our long-term performance leverages on a structured and thorough investment process, both in terms of fundamental analysis (the cornerstone of our investment approach) and portfolio construction. We seek to achieve superior long-term returns by combining a risk/reward approach with a value approach. For the former, the manager identifies a low boundary (Worst Case Scenario) and a high boundary (Target Price) for each stock. As for the latter approach, the manager favours stocks that are trading at a discount but offer significant upside potential. In terms of our philosophy, we firmly believe that the creation of wealth is only sustainable if it is shared by all stakeholders. Sycomore AM has therefore upgraded its proprietary analysis tool to include a new methodology based on SPICE – the 5 pillars of value creation. These include Society, People, Investors, Clients and Envi- ronment. While financial criteria remain determining factors for our fundamental approach, we also conduct in-depth and proprietary ESG analysis across our entire investment universe. This process helps us identify indicators that may point to financial risks but also to performance drivers on the stock market. With regards to the culture of our firm, Sycomore Asset Management pays particular attention to its main asset: human capital, which we believe is the key driver for sustainable performance. From our perspective, a happy employee is more creative, more engaged and therefore more productive. All that is needed is a work- ing environment that is conducive to professional and personal development, which in turn drives self-motiva- tion. As a result, it is fundamental for new staff joining the team at Sycomore AM to adhere to this philosophy and to share these values. Looking back on the past 12 months, 2015 has been an exciting year for Sycomore Asset Management, where we launched two new funds. With the creation of Sycomore Happy@Work – a European equity fund with a focus on human capital – and Sycomore Eco Solutions – a principally European equity fund investing in companies playing an active role in the energy and environmental transition – Sycomore AM is innovating, while also strengthening the social and environmental dimension of its investment expertise. Company: Sycomore Asset Management Name: Fidy Ramamonjisoa Web Address: www.sycomore-am.com Address: 14 Avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris Telephone: +33 (0) 1.44.40.16.00 Sycomore Asset Management