Rainer-Marc Frey is one of the most popular and richest Banker who was born on January 10, 1963 in Liestal, Switzerland. Rainer-Marc Frey was a Swiss citizen who was born in Basel-Landschaft on January 10, 1963. After his Matura in economics from the Gymnasium of Liestal he went on to study economics at St. Gallen. Summa cum laude, he received a degree (lic.) in economics. oec. HSG) in 1986.
In 1996, Castle Alternative Invest was launched as a hedge fund investment firm. This collaboration was a success with Swiss Life (then Schweizerische Lebensversicherungs- und Rentenanstalt). Swiss Life was expanding rapidly their alternative investment activities and gained a 23.5% stake in RMF, valued at CHF 44 millions in 1998 and 2000. In the following years, further cooperations were established with insurance companies. Market neutral strategies for hedge funds gained popularity as the dot-com bubble burst. Credit Suisse also invested nearly CHF 4 billion through RMF in hedge fund strategies that year. RMF was the main client of most major Swiss insurers by 2002.
The sale of his stake in RMF resulted in proceeds of approximately CHF 500 million for Frey. However, Frey and his partners did not rest on their laurels after the sale. In 2004 already, they founded their next investment firm, which would specialize in alternative investments, Horizon 21 AG, headquartered in Pfäffikon, Schwyz.
In September 2005, Swiss Re became a strategic partner to Horizon21 and acquired a 20% stake in the Horizon21 Alternative Investments business unit. A year later, the partnership between the two firms grew stronger, as they joined efforts in the private equity fund of funds business. Horizon21 took over the private equity activities of Swiss Re, which in turn bought 30% of the Horizon21 Private Equity Holding.
RMF Investment Group grew from 1996 to 2002 into Europe’s leading alternative asset manager. In 2002, assets under management reached USD 8.5 billion. Man Group plc offered RMF a takeover of CHF 1.35billion in the same year. RMF shareholders accepted the offer and it merged into Man Group. RMF’s 12-member management group committed to staying on board for three years as part of the deal. The Man Group was the largest global provider of hedge fund investment services through this acquisition.
