Former De Beers heirs set up family office in Singapore

Oct 20, 2021



Singapore

A SINGLE family office representing the interests of Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer, who made their fortunes from the De Beers diamond empire, has set up a Singapore office to increase investment exposure across the region.

Building a "permanent presence" in the city-state will give Oppenheimer Generations a platform to boost synergies and catalyse investments between its home market Africa, and South-east Asia, it said.

"The long-term economic prospects that Asia presents are clearly attractive for any investor," it added.

Jonathan Oppenheimer, executive chairman of Oppenheimer Generations, said of the new venture: "As a family, we have always sought to apply a mindset of engaged capital - which involves a long-term partnership between investors, operators, and the wider community - across all our investments, with a focus on long-term shared value.

"In recent decades, China and South-east Asia have led the world in terms of investment in 'productive assets' as a proportion of overall investment. Through our presence in Singapore, we look forward to deepening relationships with like-minded partners across both commercial and philanthropic initiatives."



Oppenheimer Generations has offices in Johannesburg, London and Jersey (Channel Islands). The Singapore office marks its first institutional presence in Asia, but the family has historical ties with partners in the region from its involvement in the diamond trade.

Edoardo Collevecchio, who has served with the Oppenheimer family for over 5 years as chief of staff, has relocated to Singapore to set up and lead the family office's Asian operations.

In terms of investments, the family office will focus on early-stage growth ventures in the region, but are keeping the sectors and markets fairly broad, Collevecchio said.

"If you are working with very mature, established structures, you're probably coming in and playing a small (role). But in the venture and growth stage, you can build meaningful relationships with the founders and co-investors," he said.

In addition to larger regional powers like China and India, the family office sees synergies between Africa and the emerging markets in South-east Asia.

"If you look at the whole corridor between Africa, South-east Asia, and other emerging markets, we feel that's where the real connectivity is going to come from. And actually, a lot of these countries have a lot more in common in terms of demographics and the challenges they face," Collevecchio noted.

He is joined by Ong Yiling, formerly of Temasek, as head of investment.

The Oppenheimer family's involvement with De Beers - which, at its peak, produced around 90 per cent of the world's diamonds - dates back to the 1920s.

In November 2011, the family announced that it would sell its 40 percent stake in De Beers to Anglo American for US$5.1 billion, thus ending the 80-year Oppenheimer control of the company.

That year, the family also entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Temasek, with an initial capital commitment of US$300 million, to invest primarily in consumer goods and agricultural sectors across Africa.