Taikehau Capital: Secrets of Phenomenal Success

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Now 20 years old. In every capital city where the Tikehau flag is unfurled, a celebration is being prepared. Antoine Flamarion will tour, he co-founded the Paris-based asset management company in 2004 with Mathieu Chabran. London, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt ... The Tikehau brand, a Polynesian atoll, is now available in 15 countries. The take-off, which started with a small initial capital of 4 million euros raised from their loved ones, was impressive. Both had 31 and 28 years of age at the time. They met in 1998 at Merrill Lynch before training at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank and joining forces to create a major player in the global financial industry in the image of the US Blackstone, KKR or Apollo.

The goal of Tikehau? To connect the world's €100 trillion in savings - which has more than tripled in twenty years - and the real economy through debt or investment. "We work on local projects with local entrepreneurs from Toronto to St. Malo," Mathieu Chabran earnestly rhymes. This tandem has tremendous energy and courage, in a world notorious for its isolation. Jacques Mayoux, of Goldman Sachs, was one of the early adopters. "A major at ENA in the group of Valérie Giscard d'Estaing, former president of Société Générale: a figure of the establishment!" - Antoine Flamarion jokes today.

Then it was on to the institutionalists: Temasek, MACSF. The strategic participation fund - the insurers' fund - as well as Axa, Amundi or the Peugeot family have joined the capital, lists Antoine Flamarion. Earlier this year, even the hidden owner of beer giant AB InBev contributed 400 million through his company SFI. "He has joined the board and is a great competitor," he says. The teams have gotten bigger, too. The duo oversees nearly 750 employees worldwide, including some fifty nationalities with an average age of 35, in a culture that emphasizes demanding, excellence and autonomy. Despite lower salaries compared to the big financial houses, there are many former Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch employees among the managers.... including top executives. These are the professionals who chose this flexible and buildable group. Like Thomas Friedberger in 2014, now Deputy CEO, Cecile Mayer-Levy, the queen of credit, moved from Ardian, Carmen Alonso, former Morgan Stanley employee in charge of the London and Madrid offices, or Cecile Cabani, who joined in 2021 after seventeen years at Danone. "In these large organizations, processes are created and questions are no longer asked about compliance," admits the deputy CEO. "There is no dogma here.".