An investment company which manages more than $300 million of assets has established its operational headquarters in Bermuda — and is now seeking to make a substantial investment in an Island firm.

Edelweiss Holdings Ltd focuses on wealth preservation for its high net worth clientele and has a very long-term outlook.

Its new Bermuda office will be in Victoria Place, Hamilton, and it will be headed by Michael Way, a Bermudian who has returned home after seven years working in London.

Edelweiss was incorporated in Bermuda in 2002 as an open-ended fund, but last month restructured into a private investment holding company. The new structure effectively creates more permanence for the company’s assets under management, in sync with its long-term investment philosophy. As of the end of June this year, it had $314 million in net assets, comprising an investment portfolio of nearly $80 million, liquid positions — including nearly 3.5 metric tonnes of gold bullion — of $162.9 million, and core holdings of $71.7 million.

Those core holdings feature many companies that have been around for more than 100 years, operating in agricultural, food and industrial sectors.

Speaking with The Royal Gazette during a visit to Bermuda this week, Anthony Deden, founder of Edelweiss and chairman of its executive committee, said the Bermuda company in which Edelweiss invests will have to meet its specific criteria.

These include that it must be profitable, with a track record of earnings, and it must be a simple business active in any sector except finance.

“We are looking to take a meaningful participation in an entrepreneurial business, owning between 10 and 40 per cent,” Mr Deden said.

The firm had no interest in managing businesses, but they were looking for a company with elements of permanence, which include doing something very well, being focused on looking after customers and avoiding the kind of errors that lead to business failure.

One of Edelweiss’ core holdings is a company that has been owned by the same family for some 400 years. It has a culture that has been passed down from generation to generation.

“The best thing you can pass on to your children is not money, it’s a way of doing things,” Mr Deden said. “All of the companies among our core holdings care about their employees and their customers. They’re not interested in profit and growth for the sake of it.

He added: “Our investors are not interested in becoming rich — they’re already rich.”

Mr Deden takes a dim view of the financial engineering prevalent in the world today as well as the splurge of money printing by central banks around the world.

“Wealth is created on Main Street, not Wall Wall Street,” Mr Deden said.

Edelweiss has achieved an annualised return since 2002 of 9.3 per cent in US dollar terms. In 2008, when the stock market crash led to the S&P 500 index falling 38.5 per cent, Edelweiss suffered a 15.5 per cent loss.

Edelweiss has eight employees, an office in Zurich, Switzerland, and 105 shareholders from 36 countries. It relies on word of mouth to attract new investors.

The company chose Bermuda as its headquarters, as it had the advantages of being regarded as a “neutral jurisdiction” in the eyes of international investors, as well as having a well respected legal system and a strong track record in the insurance and reinsurance business, Mr Deden said.

Mr Way, who joined Edelweiss in June this year, spent the previous seven years in London running Bloomberg Tradebook’s equity trading desk for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is also familiar to many as a former Bermuda Davis Cup tennis player.

Other Bermuda connections are that Rod Forrest, a lawyer with Wakefield Quin, is an executive director, while James Keyes is an independent director.

Edelweiss plans to gradually expand its operation in Bermuda, adding to the staff over time.