CIO Bulletin

Sanne - A leading global alternative asset and corporate services provider

Funds management, also referred to as asset management, is an essential thing for companies. As the companies grow, it needs a diversified portfolio of funds to cope up with any situation. There are many fund managers and investment firms, which take care of the companies' assets and wealth and help them grow. Established in 1988, Sanne employs 2,000 professionals worldwide and administers structures and funds over £465 billion assets. The company delivers tailored fiduciary services to a highly valued international client base through a global network of offices spread across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Sanne leads in the provision of fund and corporate administration services across private debt, capital markets, real assets, private equity, hedge, and corporate services. We interviewed Martin Schnaier, the CEO of Sanne Group, where he talks more about the company. Here are a few important takeaways from the interview:

Q. What are the competitive advantages for your clients if they join Sanne?

Becoming part of the Sanne family means that clients receive a competitive advantage that empowers their business and allows them to concentrate on what they do best. We work with leading international clients, including global banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and institutional asset managers. Being a nimble organization means that we recognize clients' needs on an individual basis. We offer an appropriate blend of technology aligned to operational agility. It's through our people and well-regulated processes and procedures that we ensure the quality, accuracy, and diligence that our clients depend on for their own business needs.

One of the most recent successes that give clients a competitive advantage is Sanne Spotlight. We are building the future technology of private markets for investors and fund managers. In March 2021, we also launched Sanne Rio, our next-generation ESG reporting platform. We now offer the client a fully-fledged ESG solution, including green fund administration, ESG advisory, and ESG reporting.

Q. What responsibilities are you taking towards conserving the environment?

We are committed to reducing carbon emissions and, in addition have become a PRI Signatory, we launched Sanne Rio to assist with the implementation of the TCFD recommendations. To understand the impact that climate change could have on Sanne's business, we built a carbon emission baseline in 2020 for the first time, which calculated emissions from Sanne's activities in 2019. This year, we have continued to measure our environmental impact while improving data quality and completeness to increase the baseline's accuracy.

We are committed to:

Protecting our environment and engaging with stakeholders on environmental issues
Reducing our carbon footprint and becoming a carbon-neutral organization
Ensuring our people are sensitive and respectful of their local natural environments by providing awareness training
Ensuring our procurement activities include factors pertaining to circular, energy-efficient options
Striving towards paperless offices
Purchasing electricity from renewable sources where available and feasible
Reducing and, where possible, ultimately removing single-use plastic across all our locations
Ensuring effective recycling process and services in place in all offices
Exploring measures to reduce our water footprint
Purchasing coffee and tea for the office from Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance Certified or similarly certified producers

Q. Tell us about your expertise. How has it welcomed more clients?

We believe that clients should expect more from their professional service providers. This is why our business is made up of highly skilled and professionally qualified people around the world. It's our commitment to professional service that drives us forward. We offer an appropriate blend of technology aligned to operational agility. It's through our people and well-regulated processes and procedures that we ensure the quality, accuracy, and diligence that our clients depend upon for their business success. This is how we build long-term partnerships with our clients.

Clients are serviced through regional businesses, which are led by global leaders with deep experience in alternative asset and corporate services. Clients value our business model as we offer global services while taking into consideration the local nuances. Each business contains multifunctional and skilled teams of professionally qualified people aligned to each client's specific requirements across one accredited platform.

Q. Give us insights into the company. Where does it stand today?

Since being founded in 1988 to provide clients with high-quality fiduciary services, Sanne has rapidly evolved as an organization. What was once a small company that focused on local issues has grown into an international firm. It now employs more than 2,000 professionals across 23 locations globally.

Sanne is a youthful and socially diverse organization that is passionate about the investment industry that it serves. This culture of professionalism and responsibility manifests itself in many different ways that employees are immensely proud of. Sanne recruits and retains the very best talent in the industry, enabling teams with technical solutions that empower better decision-making and communications quality.

Q. How do you balance your relationship with clients, employees, suppliers, regulators, investors, and the wider communities you serve?

Sanne is defined by a culture of exceptional service, developing long-term relationships to enable their clients' success. Our business plays an increasingly important role in the fund manager community as it continues to evolve. Our people's commitment to service allows us to balance our commitments with clients, relationships, regulators, and investors. Our resilience culture underpins our service model, which has been successfully tried and tested throughout the global pandemic.

Innovation lies at the heart of Sanne, and 2021 is our year to push boundaries and innovations both internally and for our clients. We celebrate fresh thinking and new ideas in an entrepreneurial approach. High on energy and team spirit – Sanne is a professional, agile and connected business, using our people's expertise to be the best we collectively can be

Q. How proud are you to be recognized as "Mauritius Best Employer Brand" for three consecutive years?

We are delighted to be bestowed by this honor, this time not only in Mauritius but also as part of the African continent. Our people are at the core of our business. This award is a testament to Sanne's commitment to co-creating a working environment conducive to diversity, teamwork, positivity, and integrity. Our people live the Sanne brand through their behavior and engagement towards the business, and most importantly, our partners.

Q. Explicate your services in brief.

We offer a wide range of professional services focused on the alternative asset and corporate sector. We provide these services to clients globally through highly expert teams of specialists across our network of offices.

Through our partnership with a diverse group of sponsors, we have an established track record for adding value to our clients' fundraisings and have developed an acute understanding of customs and practices in the private fund's marketplace. That, in turn, allows us to provide clients with the commercially driven, practical solution that they require. We service sponsors and sophisticated investors in private equity, private debt, real assets, hedge, and capital markets

About the CEO

Martin Schnaier became the CEO of Sanne Group plc in 2019 and took over the company's reigns during an extraordinary period of growth, expansion, and innovation. His ambition for himself and the group is to be the very best it can be. It's a credit to his leadership that Sanne's employees have been able to deliver uninterrupted, quality client service under the most extraordinary conditions. This is a great example of Martin's qualities and how his enthusiasm continues to help shape Sanne now and for the future.