A message from ETHENEA’s founders

Thanks for 10 amazing years – here’s to many more!

In September, we are celebrating a milestone that we are very proud of – 10 years of ETHENEA. It really has been an amazing decade, so we just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey that we have taken together.

Although at that time, multi-asset funds were neither particularly well-known nor widespread, it was there we saw our opportunity – an actively managed multi-asset fund that catered for retail investors not just large institutional investors. And with that, in 2002, the Ethna-AKTIV was born. What started out small soon grew as increasingly more investors placed their trust in us and the fund. This encouraged us to add two more funds to the range – the bond-focused Ethna-DEFENSIV in 2007 and the equity-focused Ethna-DYNAMISCH in 2009. Despite their differing asset class focuses, all three funds have one thing in common – an actively and flexibly managed multi-asset approach is in their DNA.

Following the success of the three funds in 2010, we decided to set up ETHENEA – an investment company focused on the management of the Ethna Funds. At the beginning, the company was small with just a few employees but it grew steadily. Then as now, we follow a team approach when managing the Ethna Funds, with all investment decisions taken jointly. Capital preservation and achieving stable returns over the long term have always been key components of our investment philosophy.

Over the years, we have learnt a number of lessons that we still benefit from today. Firstly is how essential it is to be flexible as an active portfolio manager – anticipating crises or market movements where possible and acting accordingly. It is also important to be modest, have humility and know that you can and will make mistakes. You have to accept that, reassess the situation and adapt flexibly and creatively to the new environment.