A. Firm
Marcuard is a Swiss corporation founded in 1998, domiciled in the Canton of Zurich and since 2020 a
member of the Swiss Public Limited Company for Supervision (“AOOS”), a self-regulatory organization
of asset managers and Trustees. Furthermore, in 2020 Marcuard became a member of the Ombud
Finance Switzerland (“OFS”), a Swiss Foundation dedicated to provide dispute resolution services to
financial advisers and their clients. In addition, since November 2023 Marcuard has been licensed as a
portfolio manager in accordance with the Swiss Financial Institutions Act (“
FinIA”) by the Swiss Financial
Market Supervisory Authority (
“FINMA”). Mr. Martin Sutter is Marcuard’s Chief Executive Officer. More
information about Marcuard is available in Form ADV Part
1: www.adviserinfo.sec.gov
B. Advisory Services
Marcuard provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory (including private markets
advisory services), cockpit and family office services to high-net worth individuals and their families.
Marcuard acts as sponsor and/or investment adviser to two private investment funds). The fees
charged in connection with the specific services are stated in each individual client agreement. The
latter must be signed by both Marcuard and the client(s) before any services can be provided.
Cockpit Services
Cockpit services include: wealth consolidation, reporting, and coordination with custodian banks.
Furthermore, Marcuard assists its clients with negotiating custody fees with custodian banks. Cockpit
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services do not include submitting trades, providing investment advice, monitoring investments nor
exercising investment discretion for Cockpit assets showing up on the consolidation reports. Only the
client is responsible for monitoring Cockpit assets, determining whether to buy or sell Cockpit assets
and placing any orders to buy or sell such Cockpit assets.
Investment Services – Discretionary and Non-Discretionary Investment Advice
Marcuard offers investment advisory services on a discretionary and non-discretionary basis. Marcuard
mainly invests or recommends investing clients’ assets with affiliated and independent asset managers
carefully selected by Marcuard based upon the quality of services provided (
“Fund Managers”). The
aforementioned Fund Managers manage investment funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, private
equity funds, funds of private equity funds and provide investment advice concerning other financial
assets.
For discretionary account clients, Marcuard exercises investment discretion based on the clients’
investment objectives, risk profile, time horizon, strategy and, whenever applicable, reasonable
restrictions agreed upon (and as amended in writing from time to time) in the specific client agreement.
For non-discretionary clients, Marcuard’s investment advice is based on the same investment criteria.
Marcuard defines with each of its clients their particular investment objective/profile, which includes
an individual benchmark and risk tolerance. Some clients may also impose reasonable restrictions on –
or objectives for – investing in certain securities or types of securities. All of this is recorded in the
client’s specific agreement, which may also include annexes and/or addendums. The client is
responsible for notifying Marcuard of any changes regarding his/her financial situation, risk profile or
investment objective and whether he/she wishes to impose or modify existing investment restrictions.
Marcuard is at its clients’ disposal for any inquiries related to their current account status.
Clients are advised that there might be other third-party asset managers not recommended by
Marcuard, who might in turn also be suitable for the clients in question and who might provide
comparable services for less money than those arrangements recommended by Marcuard.
Marcuard does not guarantee in any way or form that a client’s financial goals or objectives will be
achieved by any investment. Furthermore, Marcuard does not offer any guarantee of performance
regarding any investment. All investments involve risks including possible loss of principal.
Marcuard manages investments for many clients and may thus advise them or take actions for them
(or Marcuard’s own accounts) that differ from the advice and course of action recommended to one
particular client. Marcuard is not obliged to buy, sell or recommend to any particular client any security
or other investment instrument that Marcuard may buy, sell or recommend for any other client or for
Marcuard’s personal accounts.
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Marcuard enables clients to invest in line with international tax, legal and regulatory requirements.
Marcuard does not provide any legal and tax advice to its U.S. clients.
Projects and Family Office Services
Marcuard offers family office services to high-net-worth families typically on a project basis. These
services include for example: wealth planning services, administration, IT-services, philanthropic
planning, structuring, as well as property management. Based upon clients’ needs, Marcuard’s services
may also cover family governance.
Under no circumstances does Marcuard provide U.S. legal or tax services for U.S. clients. Moreover,
Marcuard does not offer trustee, brokerage or custodian services.
Sponsor and Investment Adviser to Private Funds
Marcuard is the sponsor of two private funds (
“Marcuard Funds”):
• Lighthouse Alpha Select Limited,
based in the Cayman Islands (
“Lighthouse
Alpha Select"); and
• MFO IDF I (BVI) LP, based in the British Virgin Islands ("MFO IDF").
Marcuard is the sole owner of MFO Capital Ltd., BVI (“MFO Capital”), which serves as investment
manager to Lighthouse Alpha Select and MFO IDF. Based on an advisory agreement with MFO Capital,
Marcuard serves as the sub-adviser for and exercises discretion over the portfolios of MFO IDF. MFO
IDF I GP (BVI) Ltd. is solely owned by MFO Capital and acts as the general partner to MFO IDF. Lighthouse
Investment Partners, LLC is a non-affiliated US-based investment adviser, which acts as investment
adviser to Lighthouse Alpha Select. Further information about MFO IDF as well as MFO Capital and MFO
IDF I GP (BVI) Ltd. can be found in Marcuard’s Form ADV Part 1A.
Lighthouse Alpha Select and MFO IDF Funds can serve as an investment option for Marcuard’s clients,
respectively their life insurance and annuity policies as the MFO IDF is only open to life insurance
companies that are U.S. tax payers.
Marcuard has a conflict of interest to recommend and favor the aforementioned funds to which
Marcuard itself or its subsidiary serve as investment adviser or sub-adviser. However, should Marcuard
reasonably believe that a client’s assets should be invested in one of Marcuard Funds, will Marcuard
recommend or exercise investment discretion accordingly.
With respect to serving as a sponsor to the two Marcuard Funds and sub-adviser to MFO IDF,
Marcuard’s services towards Marcuard Funds are based solely upon the specific requirements of the
latter and not upon the interests of any given investor within a particular fund.
Private Markets Advisory Services
Marcuard offers Private Markets Advisory Services to selected clients who meet the SEC’s definition of
“qualified client” and fully understand the risks and long-term commitment of Private Markets
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Investments, which can include (i) private equity funds, private equity fund of funds and co-investments
with private equity funds (“Private Equity Investments”), (ii) private infrastructure funds, private
infrastructure fund of funds and co-investments with private infrastructure funds (“Private
Infrastructure Investments”), (iii) private debt funds, private debt fund of funds, and co-investments
with private debt funds (“Private Debt Investments”), and/or (iv) private real estate funds, private real
estate fund of funds and co-investments with private real estate funds (“Private Real Estate
Investments”;), Private Equity Investments, Private Debt Investments and Private Real Estate
Investments together “Private Markets Investments”). Private Markets Investments do not include
direct equity investment, direct infrastructure investments, direct debt investments and direct real
estate investments.
Private Market Advisory services are provided on a non-discretionary basis and it is the client’s exclusive
and sole decision whether to invest in a Private Markets Investment. Marcuard will identify and
examine Private Markets Investments that fulfill Marcuard’s criteria with respect to quality and
performance targets. The Private Markets Investments so selected will be added to the range of
potential Private Markets Investments, and Marcuard will provide non-discretionary investment advice
regarding such Private Markets Investments that is tailored to the client’s financial goals and risk
tolerance.
C. Scope of Investment Advice
Marcuard provides investment advice on the following types of investments:
• Cash and cash equivalents;
• Corporate and government fixed income securities and similar investments;
• Listed and non-listed equities;
• Exchange listed securities;
• Mutual funds, fund of mutual funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds (including ETFs, active
and passive strategies);
• Private Markets investments (such as private equity funds, real estate and other private market
fund investments);
• Derivatives such as futures, forwards, options, swaps and other derivatives, physical and
synthetic commodities;
• Investment techniques include, but are not limited to, short sales, leverage, uncovered option
transactions, currency hedging and limited diversification, etc.
Although Marcuard generally provides investment advice on the products listed above, Marcuard
reserves the right to offer advice on any investment product that may be suitable for each client’s
specific circumstances, needs, goals and objectives.
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D. Wrap Fee Programs
Marcuard does not participate in any wrap fee program.
E. Amounts under Management
As of December 31st, 2023, Marcuard managed the following regulatory assets of U.S. clients:
Discretionary assets USD 375’229’785
Non-discretionary assets USD 148’256’969
Total USD 523’486’754
As of December 31st, 2023, Marcuard managed the following regulatory assets of non-U.S. clients:
Discretionary assets USD 3’154’313’791
Non-discretionary assets USD 3’167’214’826
Total USD 6’321’528’617
As of December 31st, 2023, Marcuard had USD 148’256’969 in assets under advisement for U.S. clients
and USD 2’200’879’684 in assets under advisement for non-U.S. clients (non-regulatory assets). Assets
under advisement consist of assets where Marcuard is available for consultation and monitoring at the
request of the client and during client meetings. However, Marcuard does not continuously monitor
and does not manage those assets under advisement and does not have trading authority over such
assets under advisement.