Former RobecoSAM execs Feigt and Amandi set up ESG robo-advisory firm

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Two of the former RobecoSAM executives who founded Switzerland-based sustainability boutique Contrast Capital, Stephanie Feigt and Rodrigo Amandi, have launched an ESG robo-advisory solution for high net worth individuals.

Feigt was Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of what was then known as SAM Sustainable Asset Management while Amandi was Managing Director of SAM Indexes. They formed Contrast in 2011 with Pierin Menzli.

Now it’s emerged that Feigt and Amandi, together with former SUSI Partners’ Managing Director Markus Schiffers, have founded a separate firm called 3rd-eyes to develop the robo-advisory idea.

Amandi told RI that the firm, based in Munich, is a “natural extension” of the services that Contrast Capital renders to institutional investors in the ESG space.

The robo-advisor is technically a digital platform that targets high net worth clients with liquid assets ranging between €100,000 and €3 million.

Amandi says 3rd-eyes aims to overcome two gaps in the market. First, the lack of ESG investment criteria offerings to this type of clients within the private banking industry.Second, to improve the capabilities of robo-advising by introducing more sophisticated methods from the institutional investment industry.

Amandi said: “For us it was a no-brainer, no one is giving individual clients the opportunity to invest responsibly.

“There is a gap in the market when it comes to provide an exhaustive financial analysis of the client, we integrate similar criteria to that of an asset/liability management used when assessing pension funds.”

Amandi said the ESG robo-advisor has been launched as a B2C solution in Germany and as a B2B tool globally (amends from “B2C solution globally and in Germany as a B2B too”), which advisory firms can customise for their own clients.

Feigt and Amandi are still at Contrast Capital, although currently more focused on the work of 3rd-eyes.

Recently Contrast Capital has expanded its remit to Brazil forging a partnership with Granito and Partners.

Amandi said: “Brazil is a market with certain tradition in responsible investment. We see growth in the Latin-American market, which can be accessed from Brazil. But you have to be there, and the best way is to go hand in hand with a local partner.”