TC Stratégie Financière SAM is a new management company established last July in Monaco. Nevertheless, its field of business stands out from traditional management companies. We met the chairman and founder, Thierry Crovetto.
You have a long career in finance and are also a university professor, so what made you want to set up your own company?
Indeed, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know many aspects of finance in my different positions. I’ve worked as a financial analyst, an asset manager and a fund manager. Moreover I’ve always been passionate about research in finance, which is certainly one reason why I hold the position of professor of wealth management at the International University of Monaco. I wanted to set up a company that would summarise all my experiences. That’s how TC Stratégie Financière came into being.
How would you define your business?
TC Stratégie Financière is a SAM with a capital of 300 K euro. Like all management companies it is approved by the Financial Activities Control Commission. But our business is closer to consultancy for institutionals, single and multi family offices and asset managers. I also wanted to build a bridge linking finance and research, which is why we seek academic validation of our models by working with university researchers.
Indeed, you are a management company serving other management companies and financial institutions, are you not?
Yes, exactly. Our customers, based in Monaco, Paris or Geneva, see us as an assistant. Our approach focuses on research, which finds expression both in terms of asset allocation consultancy or in more complex quantitative models. We take a step back – something our customers no longer have the time to do. Our perspective is clear: performance optimisation and risk reduction in an ever-changing world.
We draw up consultancy agreements with our customers. We may also be required to create a certificate or a fund based on a strategy (e.g. absolute return) on behalf of an institutional.
Can you give us an example of a developed strategy?
Due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the universe of UCITS absolute return in which performance spreading is high, we sought to find a way to optimise the return and risk relationship of this asset class. Within a universe of monitored UCITS absolute return funds, we developed an algorithm which allows us to build an allocation comprising expected return and optimal risk. This tool therefore allows any emotional bias to be avoided. This quantitative filter is of course completed with a qualitative analysis.
This research was also conducted to address the increasingly complicated bond environment. Bonds that once a granted a rate with no risk now procure a risk with no rate! We believe that it is essential to diversify sources of performance through other decorrelated investment solutions. Absolute performance strategies via UCITS alternative funds are one solution.
What is your added value?
With my partner Pierre-Yves Dittlot - with whom I have worked informally for 10 years and who shares my passion for research and teaching - we are developing unique expertise in Monaco that is perfectly aligned with the change the Monegasque financial industry is currently experiencing with increasingly sophisticated and demanding customers and heightened international competition.
