Validus acquires Canadian investment management and advisory firm

Validus Risk Management (Validus), an independent financial risk management and advisory firm, has acquired La Financière Constance (LFC), an investment company with a strong focus on quantitative and derivatives-based strategies, with offices in Montreal and Toronto.

The acquisition will form the basis of Validus’ new Global Macro Strategies (GMS) business, which will enable Validus to provide additional products and services to its institutional client base including pension funds and family offices. GMS is led by former LFC partner Kambiz Kazemi, who has joined Validus as its chief investment officer.

Kevin Lester, CEO of Validus, said: “LFC’s expertise in overlay and derivatives strategies is an excellent complement to our core business. We are very excited to expand our suite of products and services with the launch of our new Global Macro Strategies business, and we look forward to integrating LFC’s expertise into our FX, rates and commodity hedging business lines.

“Validus has always distinguished itself from other risk advisors and overlay managers through its ability to customise hedging strategies based on unique client objectives. As this requires the ability to understand the macro environment and its potential impact on hedging strategy and implementation, LFC’s expertise is a great asset and will increase our competitive advantage.”

The launch of Validus’ GMS business will strengthen its core risk and hedging offering, adding LFC’s track record of developing systemic and rules-based investment strategies based on a deep understanding of macro risk factors across asset classes.

Kambiz Kazemi, chief investment officer for Validus, said: “It is a great pleasure to join Validus, and a natural step given the great synergies between LFC’s expertise and that of Validus. The strong reputation and expertise of Validus in risk management and designing custom hedging solutions as well as its international presence in Europe and North America offer the opportunity for LFC to become part of a great success story. We are excited to broaden the spectrum of services and deepen the expertise we offer to our combined present and future clients.”

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