Swiss Re to sell specialist investment bank

Insurance group Swiss Re has put its specialist investment bank Fox-Pitt Kelton on the market. The unit, which provides tailored investment advice and broker services to the financial services sector, is likely to fetch around GBP100 million.

Swiss Re acquired the business in 1998, and it now employs around 150 staff in the US, UK and Hong Kong. Fox-Pitt Kelton has benefited from the rise of high risk hedge fund investment players, which target specific industries and are in need of the kind of bespoke advice provided by such small investment houses.

According to a report in the Financial Times newspaper, a management buy out is seen as the most likely outcome of the auction, though Fox-Pitt is also set to attract considerable interest from private equity firms.