Gold Magazine – Special Funds Feature, March ’21: Interview with Ms. Maria Panayiotou

22-03-2021

GMM Fund Management has been around for a few years now. Could you tell us a little bit more about the firm itself, its establishment, its service offering and its positioning on the Cypriot market?

GMM Global Money Managers AIFM Ltd is an Alternative Investment Fund Manager licensed in Cyprus and is the latest addition to the GMM Group which has been managing funds in Cyprus since 2013.

GMM Fund Management operates as an alternative investments fund management platform providing to our funds the required expertise, risk management and regulatory compliance to launch, develop and maintain alternative strategies.

Our partners, associates, clients and providers are of diverse backgrounds and fields in the financial, professional and business industry, including asset, wealth and fund managers, family offices and corporates. Together with them, we seek to identify and launch funds with solid alternative strategies.

Our approach to alternative fund management is based on three themes supporting our strategy to provide an edge to every fund we manage:

1. Solid Regulatory and Operational Infrastructure; 
2. Highest level of expertise;
3. Fundraising and capital placement.

This approach provides an integrated fund management platform for all asset classes and any strategy including liquid and illiquid alternative strategies. 

Our solution encompasses all the required functions and activities of fund management.

What type of funds and what type of investments are you currently managing?

GMM is activated and organised to manage funds in all fund categories and we currently manage investments in real estate, private equity, shipping, energy, venture capital, hospitality and liquid assets. Our funds primarily target well-informed and institutional investors, however, we are also managing funds targeted to retail investors. 

What do you anticipate to be an upcoming trend in the funds’ sector in the short to medium term?

Undoubtedly, the most important trend in the short to medium term is the adoption of ESG (Environment, Social and Corporate Governance) as the factors measuring the sustainability of investments or businesses. In the medium to long term we expect blockchain technologies and decentralised finance (DeFi) to play a pivotal role in the development of the industry.

The funds’ sector is undoubtedly one of the best performing sectors both in Cyprus and overseas, despite the Covid pandemic. How do you see the sector affecting Cyprus’ real economy?

The fund industry already plays a significant role in the Cyprus economy especially as a service sector generating income and job positions. However, this is not the only role we envision for the industry. The sector could potentially grow to become the cornerstone of finance in Cyprus as a Foreign Direct Investment tool rather than just another service sector. Some of the challenges we have as a country to be able to compete internationally for FDI are reputation, the small market size and our regional position. In all of these challenges, funds may be utilised to bring transparency and regional expertise on the table and create larger size pipelines through collectivizing investment targets. 

Our work at GMM is focused on providing solutions to foreign investors, which are transparent and of such size that may potentially become a magnet for foreign direct investment into Cyprus.