IMQubator is a Dutch emerging manager seeding fund that connects institutional investors with emerging asset management talent. The firm was founded by Jeroen Tielman in 2009 with a €250m investment from APG, the asset manager for Dutch pensions giant Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP.
In this Opalesque.TV interview, Tielman gives insight into IMQubator’s seeding model, which seeks to address escalating investor concerns over lack of liquidity, inadequate transparency, fee structures, and governance structures that overwhelmingly benefit managers, by providing a pure “end-investor” model.
According to Tielman, because seeders can connect with top emerging managers in a unique moment of their professional life-cycle where capital infusion is critical, seeding is that perfect moment to align interest between investors and managers. He promotes adjusting governance structures together with the emerging manager to provide end-investors with more power, engineering hedge fund products “to be bought, not sold”. Institutional investor liability mismatches can therefore benefit from the absolute return nature of hedge fund investments, which are skill based - as opposed to long only - while capitalizing on improved governance structures.
In addition, learn about the following:
• The IMQubator seeding partnership model:
-End-investor orientation: Aligns interests between investors and managers through enhanced governance
-Geographic proximity to managers
-Support operations and business development
-Utilize the IMQubator Capital Introduction Network
• Finding focused, innovative, liquid strategies with risk discipline
• Selecting managers through a 4-dimensional process analysis
• Partnering to find emerging managers in China
• Seeding skill-based absolute return strategies to address institutional liability mismatches
Jeroen Tielman is the CEO of IMQ Investment Management B.V. and the founder of the IMQubator hedge seeding fund. During his employment at ABN AMRO between 1986 and 2000, Tielman has gained experience in the area of investment analysis (incl. RBA), institutional sales (US), international corporate finance/M&A, and the development of asset management products as global head product development within ABN AMRO Asset Management.
With the founding of the investment product-engineering boutique FundPartners in 2000, Tielman also gained experience as an entrepreneur, motivator of a team of high-level professionals, strategic advisor to pension funds and private banks, and as advisor on pension product design. Between 2006 and 2008 Tielman was Managing Director Commerce, Strategy & Innovation with Cordares. During 2008 Tielman extended his international pension fund contact network while working with among others TIAA-CREF on a pension investment collaboration initiative. In January 2009 he founded IMQubator. Tielman organizes the PensionSummit annually as a podium for and by pension funds (www.PensionSummit.com) since 2002.
