Fireside chat was held between Crestbridge’s Head of Corporate Services, Ana Kekovska, and Anna Sweeting, founder, and Partner of Vaultier7 (‘V7’).
Analyst at Material Impact Marketing Communications
Emerging managers already face a myriad of challenges from fundraising to regulation to marketing. Crestbridge’s Emergent event series seeks to support emerging managers through proactive discussions between alternative funds industry veterans and rising emerging managers. Over dinner, Crestbridge hosts small gatherings, to facilitate these discussions and hear from insightful industry leaders over a fireside chat.
An accountant by training and forward-thinker by nature, she became CFO for ICAP in 2010 and a hedge fund before becoming the Chief Executive of British luxury brand Linley, in 2014, when she was just 20 (the average age of leaders in top British firms is around 40).
At the second event, last Thursday, the fireside chat was held between Crestbridge’s Head of Corporate Services, Ana Kekovska, and Anna Sweeting, founder, and Partner of Vaultier7 (‘V7’).
An accountant by training and forward-thinker by nature, she became CFO for ICAP in 2010 and a hedge fund before becoming the Chief Executive of British luxury brand Linley, in 2014, when she was just 20 (the average age of leaders in top British firms is around 40). Linley, is a “bespoke furniture, luxury gifts, and accessories, and interior design company” that was set up in 1985 by David Linley, Earl of Snowdon. For Anna, becoming a CEO was a lifelong ambition, one she fearlessly pursued into new territory.
Overcoming her knowledge gaps required seeking out those who knew more than her. By gaining an understanding of the practicalities of the business such as warehouse operation she was better able to communicate with commercial potential to potential investors. By seeking out new industry contacts she could understand the consumer market landscape better. During this process, Anna was able to see a significant hurdle many within the industry were facing was gaining financial backing.
Spurred on by these conversations with her consumer market network, she went on to found Vaultier7, the UK’s first female-led specialist investment fund. V7’s aim is to support “early-stage branded consumer companies” within the beauty, health and wellness, and lifestyle sectors. Originally seen as niche markets, these three sectors are represented a significant size of the global economy. The global Health and Wellness market is now valued to be worth $1.5tn. The beauty sector in the US alone is valued at $60bn.
Having identified a gap in the market, Anna and her V7 team now had the task of creating a fund that was as competitive in a perceived niche market. Although macro trends shifted in V7’s favour, they overcame these challenges by centring on the changing needs of their LP’s, which they were able to do by evolving into a traditional fund structure.
The discussion turned to the gender gap within the fund industry. In 2021, 2.4% of all venture capital was allocated to female-founded companies. In 2022 and in the UK, it’s just 3%. On the GP side, women-led GPs account for just 6% and manage only 1% of capital. For V7, this became an issue they’re unintentionally yet organically combatting. A rough estimate from Anna had the majority of V7 investments going to female-founded companies due to the nature of the market the firm is investing in.
Throughout Anna’s fireside chat, there was a fearless optimism: through her journey from accountant to the founder of an emerging, and now established fund. She faced hurdles but was determined to bring to life a vision of what she could see, but that others couldn’t even imagine.
This vision is something many emerging fund managers share, the ability to see investing potential where no one else can. The Crestbridge team looks forward to supporting more managers like Anna Sweeting.
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