Solidum appoints former Vontobel exec Ulrich Behm as Partner for sales & marketing

Solidum Partners AG, a Swiss independent investment manager focused exclusively on catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), has appointed former Vontobel Asset Management board member Dr. Ulrich Behm as a Partner with responsibility for sales and marketing for the company and its investment strategies.

The company, which was founded in 2004 and is still fully-owned by its partners, offers the UCITS compliant Solidum Cat Bond Fund, which is a pure catastrophe bond focused investment strategy, as well as its Solidum Event Linked Securities funds that broaden the scope of investments to private cat bonds and transformed reinsurance deals.

Solidum Partners is one of the oldest ILS investment boutiques based in Switzerland and its flagship fund has existed since 2006 and delivered a USD 5.7% per-annum return since its inception.

Dr. Ulrich Behm joined Solidum Partners AG this month, as a new Partner.

He has more than a quarter of a century of asset management and financial markets expertise, most of it gained during his time working at Vontobel Asset Management and a successful track-record in business development.

Behm began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey, but then moved to Vontobel five years later.

At first, Behm held the role of Regional Sales Head, Europe at Vontobel Asset Management and was based in Zurich, Switzerland.

He moved to Hong Kong in 2008 and spent 12 years as Vontobel’s CEO and Regional Sales Head for APAC.

In 2022, Behm returned to Zurich and was Regional Sales Head Switzerland for Vontbel. He had held a seat on the asset management board of that company from 2003 until his departure this year.

“We are pleased to welcome Ulrich, whose extensive experience in institutional asset management and business development will be of great value to our firm,” Karsten Bromann, Founding Partner Solidum Partners commented.

“I am very much looking forward to build our business. Solidum Partners has a strong and one of the longest team track records without PM change of all ILS managers worldwide. Furthermore, the asset class has a lot of growth potential from a supply and demand side,” Ulrich Behm added.

Posting on LinkedIn, Behm said, “I am happy to share that I joined Solidum Partners AG, a pure play ILS investment boutique, as a partner.

“Building our business around an asset class known for its appealing returns, very attractive diversification potential and ESG credentials is something I am very much looking forward to.”

Solidum founding partner Bromann also said, “Solidum Partners believes, that the market is currently very attractive with Cat Bond spreads over money market of around 8%. The overall growth trend of the market should continue in the coming years. The main factors are that insured assets in risk exposed regions are growing while at the same time insurers are forced by regulators to provide high equity quotas for extreme events. As a consequence, these risk are securitized and sold to the ILS market.”