ETHENEA's key facts

10 facts you might not have known about ETHENEA and its funds...

The Ethna-AKTIV started out as a ‘friends and family’ fund

The first of the Ethna Funds, the Ethna-AKTIV, was initially set up as a ‘friends and family’ fund. Over time, the Ethna-AKTIV and its underlying philosophy became so successful that increasingly more investors became aware of the fund and invested in it. This encouraged Luca Pesarini and Arnoldo Valsangiacomo to follow their passion and set up two additional multi-asset funds – the bond-oriented Ethna-DEFENSIV in 2007 and the equity-oriented Ethna-DYNAMISCH in 2009.

The five arrows in ETHENEA’s logo stand for the various asset classes

While the arrows initially symbolised the founders’ five children, today, they represent the different asset classes that are typical in a multi-asset fund: equities, bonds, cash, forex and commodities (mainly gold).

The inspiration for the name of the Ethna Funds came from Mount Etna

When setting up their first fund, the founders wanted to give it a name that represented its disruptive and active nature. A volcano is constantly in motion and bringing forth something new – symbolism that is very fitting for the Ethna Funds.

For ETHENEA, the elephant is more than just an emblem

Elephants have a very special meaning for ETHENEA, as their character traits embody the attributes of our portfolio management: experience, intuition and prudence. Elephants have thick skins, are steadfast, strong and assertive, and assume responsibility within their herds. Partnership and solidarity are also important for us – we follow a team approach to actively and prudently manage the Ethna Funds. Our resilience and thick skin allow us to successfully master diverse market situations. While our understanding of the capital markets is shaped by our experience and expertise. All of which is why we chose the Elephant as the symbol of our values.

ETHENEA was established after the three Ethna Funds

With the Ethna Funds increasing in popularity thanks to a very successful management approach – particularly during the 2008/2009 financial crisis – Luca Pesarini and Arnoldo Valsangiacomo decided it was time to establish a dedicated investment management company focused solely on managing the funds and supporting investors. So, in September 2010, some eight years after the launch of the Ethna-AKTIV, ETHENEA Independent Investors S.A. was founded. Some of the company’s first employees had previously provided client services for the funds on the custodian bank side – and many of them are still with ETHENEA today.

The team from ETHENEA were among the pioneers in multi-asset funds

It may be hard to imagine now, but in the early 2000s, the multi-asset concept was not particularly well known or widespread. When Luca Pesarini and Arnoldo Valsangiacomo set up the Ethna-AKTIV, an actively managed multi-asset fund with the aim of preserving capital and achieving stable returns over the long term, they were among the first.

Over the years, the funds have undergone name changes

Originally, the Ethna-AKTIV was known as the Ethna-AKTIV E. The E stood for Europe, which was the core of the fund’s investment universe at the time. As both of the other funds in the Ethna family were focused on OECD countries, and to optimise investment opportunities, the Ethna-AKTIV’s universe was also expanded to the OECD and on 31 December 2014 the ‘E’ was dropped. The Ethna-DEFENSIV started out as the Ethna Bond Premium, but in 2008 it was decided to emphasise its defensive character and it was renamed the Ethna-GLOBAL Defensiv. In 2015, the ‘GLOBAL’ was dropped in order to harmonise the fund names and, since then, it has been known as the Ethna-DEFENSIV. At the same time, the Ethna-GLOBAL Dynamisch became the Ethna-DYNAMISCH.

And finally, here are some key events that took place when each of the Ethna Funds was launched:

The Ethna-AKTIV shares its birth year, 2002, with the official introduction of the euro banknotes and coins as legal tender.

In 2007, when the Ethna-DEFENSIV was launched, Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone at a Macworld convention in San Francisco.

2009 was not only the year that the Ethna-DYNAMISCH came into being but also when President Barack Obama took office as the first African American president of the United States.

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