Acquisition International - Global Excellence 2021 55 Acquisi International - Issu 9 2021 9 Aug21128 Contact: Per Wimmer Company: Wimmer Family Office Web: www.wfo.am To Infinity and Beyond elebrating a decade of operation next month, the Wimmer Family Office (WFO) is a Mayfair, Londonbased organisation providing exceptional global services in investment and wealth management. WFO takes a uniquely entrepreneurial and opportunistic view of investments to deliver strategies centred around sophisticated asset allocation that blends together assets ranging from fixed income to NTAs to create high performing value return for the Wimmer Group and partners. WFO predominantly provides large Corporate Credit and Equity Lines for global project finance, acquisition finance, real estate development finance, aviation and other hard asset financing. The office also provides specialist services in project debt and equity financing at the BFS/DFS stage or equivalent for natural resource companies. Additionally, the organisation takes on any other opportunistic ad hoc investments, preferably with synergies to its existing portfolio. In addition, WFO will also bring start up funds within its umbrella to investors based on three provisos: that portfolio managers can demonstrate strong track records, that they can bring initial meaningful seed AUM and finally, that they are based in London, UK. At the head of WFO and its sister organisations like Wimmer Financial and Wimmer Horizons is Per Wimmer. Philanthropist, entrepreneur, global financier, adventurer, author – and soon to be astronaut - Wimmer is certainly no one-trick pony. Having spent time in organisations like McKinsey & Co and Goldman Sachs, as well as in a junior position with the VP of the EU, Wimmer utilised his wealth of experience to establish Wimmer Financial in 2007. Since then, the wider Wimmer empire has evolved to become a truly global organisation. Yet despite its impressive history, at its heart, WFO maintains the family-centric ethos one would expect from any family office. Working in partnership with similar family offices with the same collaborative mentality that runs throughout the entirety of the WFO structure, the office is built on a flat hierarchical structure that is united in its strategies and ambitions. Despite owning 100% of the company, Wimmer insists that major company decisions on matters such as recruitment are done based on a consensus. “Ultimately,” he says, “I am Danish, and we take a very Danish approach!” This Danish approach consists of a relaxed and flexible working culture that thrives on the ideas and personality of each of its team members – yet without ever compromising on the high quality and professionalism of its services. C The Wimmer Family Office is celebrating success as 2021’s Leading Family Offices Specialist – London. We spoke to the Founder, Danish philanthropist, entrepreneur and adventurer, Per Wimmer, who explains how, for him and his business, the sky certainly is not the limit. Wimmer follows a set of seven fundamental values that guide the work done by WFO and its neighbouring organisations within the Wimmer Group. “These are: think outside the box; follow your heart and be authentic; execution and focus; time discipline; teamwork; risk-reward, which means the ability to face each decision that must be made with a thorough assessment of the maximum potential downside and an analysis of whether it justifies the reward; and finally, whatever you do, ensure you always inspire others and always give back,” explains Wimmer. For Wimmer, his commitment to giving back manifests in the work he and his companies do with a broad roster of charities, particularly for children. Most recently, his focus has been his work alongside the likes of UNICEF to get children interested in and excited about space. Wimmer Space was launched as a business centred around his many adventures, including his upcoming trip to space, which has recently seen Wimmer awarded the Fellowship, the highest status of The New York Explorers Club, for his services to earthly adventures and space exploration. When Wimmer travels to space next year alongside Richard Branson as a Founding Astronaut on Virgin Galactic, he will proudly become the first private Dane in space. Back on Earth, however, and the focus is a lot closer to home – literally. Like all businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic had a major impact on WFO, in some ways positive and in others, less so. For instance, Wimmer has seen how remote working has led to increased productivity as there have been fewer distractions, whether that be in non-essential meetings or fielding cold calls. Moreover, WFO has found that its processes in dealings with existing customers have been streamlined to become more efficient. However, this increased efficiency has come with some costs, such as the loss of the intimacy of the workplace that is so crucial to creating a healthy internal culture. Similarly, while existing client relationships have in many ways strengthened during the pandemic, finding and securing new deals and investors has been made challenging by the pandemic restrictions. Consequently, as Wimmer looks ahead, he anticipates WFO operating on a more hybrid model so as to balance the advantages of remote and office working now that we are beginning to look beyond Covid-19. With this evolution of WFO and the expansion of both its team and its operations already underway, facilitating more exciting activity and work with partnering family offices, Wimmer tells us that the future is ‘bright and exciting’. And with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to space in his diary for next year, we have little doubt that he’s correct.
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