Fidelidade acquires IMGA in strategic move

Portugal’s part-Chinese owned insurance company Fidelidade has snapped up a 70% share of IMGA – IM Gestão de Ativos, a prominent Portuguese independent asset management company known for mutual funds, private equity, and retirement plans.

The insurer’s strategy in the asset management market in Portugal was announced by its CEO, Rogério Campos Henriques who said that the target for the next three years was to “manage” 6% of Portuguese savings.

In line with the strategy, the company announced on Monday that it had purchased 70% of IMGA and that from the acquisition Fidelidade is now the largest private independent securities investment fund in Portugal with around €25Bn of assets under management including €5Bn from IMGA.

“The fact that people are living longer places savings at the centre of the great economic and social challenges for the country. Fidelidade aims to take an even more active role in this change, bolstering its value proposition and broadening its expertise throughout the financial planning chain.

“The acquisition of IMGA, as was the case with TPC – a multidisciplinary consultancy firm, (not strictly an asset manager), specialising in accounting, human resources, tax, and financial/management consulting – meets this strategic ambition”, said André Cardoso, an executive committee member and head of corporate finance who has followed the acquisition process up close.

Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate, holds a majority stake of approximately 85% in Fidelidade, Portugal’s leading insurer, having acquired it in 2014. The remaining ~15% is owned by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Portugal’s state-owned bank, making Fosun the controlling shareholder of Fidelidade, which is a key part of Fosun’s global “insurance + investment” ecosystem.