Pictet Alternative Advisors (“Pictet”), the alternative investment business of Pictet Group, announces its first investment through its new direct private equity team, acquiring a controlling interest in facilities manager Pareto FM (“Pareto”).
The team led by Edmund Buckley, Head of Direct Private Equity at Pictet, has invested in Pareto FM, an award-winning and ESG-driven provider of technical and facilities services to the built environment.
Founded in 2014 by Andrew Hulbert and headquartered in the UK, Pareto offers operational, maintenance and management services in buildings across the UK and globally.
As a result of its strong competitive position, Pictet expects Pareto to benefit from the demand for high-quality, technical services, driven by the secular trends towards sustainability and cost efficiency in the built environment. In October 2023, Pareto wonthe ‘Change Management’ and ‘Best SME Led Innovation’ categories at the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Impact Awards, highlighting its reputation as a trusted and agile platform with a core focus on customer advocacy. Pareto has been a living-wage employer since 2015 and carbon neutral since 2022, amid more than 150 ESG-centric initiatives undertaken by the business.
To support its growth trajectory, additional financial investment from Pictet will allow Pareto to expand its service offering and serve its customer base more effectively byproviding a broader range of compliance and regulatory-based services directly.
Pictet will also provide operational expertise to accelerate the growth of Pareto’s relationships with new and existing customers, as well as investment in new technology and complementary acquisitions.
Edmund Buckley, Head of Direct Private Equity at Pictet, said: “This is an exciting time to be investing in facilities management, an industry going through dynamic change and where ESG is becoming more and more important to asset owners. Pareto is an exceptional business with a differentiated brand and high-quality service proposition. We look forward to working with the team - leveraging our financial, operational and industry expertise - to grow the business and provide customers with outstanding service.”
David Richards, CEO of Pareto, said: “Through this new investment partnership with Pictet, we are committed to expanding our portfolio of esteemed clients and creating more opportunities for our employees. We are excited to embark on the next stage of our growth journey, expanding our range of value-add services for existing and new customers.”
Andrew Hulbert, Founder and Vice Chair of Pareto, said: “Nine years ago, we had the vision to create a technically led facilities management provider that would disrupt the market and be at the forefront of diversity and inclusion. Today, I am incredibly proud of what Pareto has achieved and I am excited to welcome Pictet for our next phase.”
Pictet has acquired a controlling interest in Pareto from the current shareholders, including Andrew Hulbert. Andrew will remain a significant shareholder in, and Vice Chair of, Pareto.
Pictet was advised by Sidley Austin (legal), Deloitte (financial and tax), Strategy& (commercial), and Marlborough Partners (debt).
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Note to Editors
About Pictet Alternative Advisors & the Pictet Group
Pictet Alternative Advisors is an independent unit within the Pictet Group that manages investments in private equity, private credit, hedge funds and real estate assets for both private and institutional clients. Pictet Alternative Advisors has approximately €26billion in private equity assets under management as at 30 September 2023.
Founded in 1805 the Pictet Group is headquartered in Geneva and today employs more than 5,300 people. It has 30 offices in 19 countries around the world. Pictet Group is a privately held partnership of owner-managers, with principles of succession and transmission of ownership that have remained unchanged since foundation in 1805. It offers only wealth and asset management (including alternative investments) and related asset services. The Group does not engage in investment banking, nor does it extend commercial loans. With €653 billion in assets under management or custody asat 30 September 2023, Pictet is today one of the leading European independent wealth and asset managers for private clients and institutional investors.
Having invested in private equity since 1989, Pictet hired Edmund Buckley and other team members in 2022 to build a direct private equity franchise. Edmund brings over 20 years of experience investing in the European mid-market with a depth of experience across a broad range of sectors and geographies. The team is focused on buying majority stakes in entrepreneur-led and family-owned businesses with proven resilience and high growth potential.
About Pareto FM
Pareto FM is a technical led, customer centric, facilities management company based in the UK. Pareto operates with an entirely flexible model that allows it to build its service solution around each organisation it partners with. Pareto’s high client engagement model ensures engaged and proactive account management, and its teams are formed of professionals qualified to the highest levels within FM. As one of the top 50 fastest growing companies in the UK, Pareto applies intellect and intuition to its service offering.
Pareto embraces technology and innovation at every opportunity, to deliver exceptional service to those who choose to partner with them. Pareto is committed to social inclusion, as one of the UK’s largest employers in the Government’s Kickstart scheme (to create new jobs for 16–24-year-olds at risk of long-term unemployment) and using 100% of our apprenticeship levy. It is multi-award winning in its ESG efforts and recently launched its own ESG consultancy which brings together the 150+ initiatives delivered by them to offer to customers as ideas to enhance their own ESG credentials.
