Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Ernst Grönblom had been running his high-conviction strategy of cherry-picking the stock market’s undervalued future winners under the umbrella of United Bankers since December 2020. He has now launched his own fund management company – Asilo Asset Management – to continue running the two-year-old equity fund Asilo Argo, previously called UB Thales Argo.
“Ever since my early teens, when I first became fascinated by the world of investing, my dream has been to start a fund-management company of my own,” says Grönblom. “Today this dream is closer to reality than ever before. I’m proud and happy to announce that I have joined Asilo Asset Management as a partner and member of the portfolio management team.” United Bankers has outsourced the portfolio management of UB Thales Argo to the recently-established Asilo Asset Management, with Grönblom continuing as the fund’s portfolio manager alongside Henri Blomster.
“…my dream has been to start a fund-management company of my own. Today this dream is closer to reality than ever before.”
“As part of this transition, United Bankers will outsource the management of the UB Thales Argo fund to Asilo and the name of the fund will be changed to Asilo Argo,” explains Grönblom. Asilo is owned by the fund management company’s key personnel: Ernst Grönblom, Casper Grönblom as CEO, Monica Björkstén as CFO and Henri Blomster as co-portfolio manager, as well as a group of strategic investors, including Carl-Gustaf Ehrnrooth and Jussi Westergren. Westergren is one of the leading AI researchers in the world and one of the founders of DeepMind, the AI research lab that was subsequently acquired by Google.
While Asilo Asset Management will be responsible for the front-office activities of the fund, namely the investment management, United Bankers will continue to provide the back-office and middle-office operational infrastructure for the fund. “I also want to take the opportunity to thank United Bankers for our very rewarding partnership that will continue in a new form,” says Grönblom. “We are happy that our cooperation with Ernst will continue when the fund’s portfolio management is transferred to Asilo,” adds John Ojanperä, the CEO of United Bankers.
“I have painstakingly developed my unique investment approach for more than two decades, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to taking it to the next level.”
The fund’s investment philosophy and strategy remain unchanged. Grönblom’s investment philosophy has sought to optimize diversification and avoid the downside effects of over-diversification by maintaining a concentrated portfolio of around a dozen names. He also relied on Jack Treynor’s concept of slow-traveling ideas, one of which has been the “winner-takes-all” phenomenon – the accelerating concentration of market shares, profits and investment returns to a handful of “superstar” companies. “I have painstakingly developed my unique investment approach for more than two decades, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to taking it to the next level,” concludes Grönblom.
