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Total loss imminent: retail investors demanded safe investments, the asset manager pursued a risky strategy.
sda
A Zurich-based asset management company has gone bankrupt. Its clients are likely to lose all their invested money. Some have put their entire savings into the fund.
The asset manager Wendelspiess Partners AG is in bankruptcy proceedings - as announced by the commercial register on March 12.
At the end of January, company boss Pius Wendelspiess was still trying to reassure investors. Although there were liquidity problems at the WP Multi-Strategy Fund, the planned orderly liquidation of his company would not affect the money invested, he explained in a letter to clients. According to the "Beobachter", the letter is available.
But this hope proves to be deceptive.
Back in January, SRF's "Kassensturz" reported on an investor who had invested one million francs - and has now lost everything.
The fund was apparently an opaque financial construct in which almost all of the deposits flowed into a single company or affiliated companies from the canton of Zug. A risky strategy that now appears to have led to a total loss for other investors as well.
Numerous aggrieved investors have contacted the "Beobachter" advice center. According to the magazine, many of them had expressly requested a low-risk investment strategy.
They are now fearing for their assets - in many cases six-figure sums, and in some cases also savings or pension fund assets. The total fund volume amounted to around 83 million francs.
What is explosive is that Wendelspiess Partners AG not only recommended the fund, it was also its fund manager - a clear conflict of interest. The private, non-profit Swiss Financial Ombudsman's Office (Finos) also found that the actual investment strategy deviated significantly from the strategy agreed with the client.
Apparently, clients were no longer able to access their money as early as fall 2023. A couple who had invested a six-figure sum reported that a payout of CHF 20,000 was no longer possible. They were repeatedly put off, and from November 2023 there was no more communication.
An insider confirmed to the "Beobachter" that repayments had already been slow in previous years. Sometimes the liquid funds were lacking, even if an investor wanted to withdraw just a few thousand francs.
Several affected parties have now filed criminal charges against Wendelspiess Partners AG. The company does not respond to inquiries from the "Beobachter". The presumption of innocence applies.
On "Kassensturz" in January, founder Pius Wendelspiess denied any guilt and explained that the situation was also extremely stressful for his company. It is questionable whether the investors will see any of their money.
The editor wrote this text with the help of AI.
