Latest news with #SWI
Gulf Today
07-07-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
Max-Hervé George led SWI Group Targets Europe's AI Infrastructure Gap
SWI Group, a diversified investment firm headquartered in Switzerland, is repositioning itself to meet the demands of Europe's fast-changing digital economy. With a deep bench in real estate, private equity, and structured finance, the firm is now focusing heavily on artificial intelligence and data centre infrastructure—sectors increasingly viewed as central to economic resilience and technological sovereignty. This pivot reflects a broader realignment within European capital markets, as traditional asset classes face margin compression and geopolitical volatility. For SWI, the opportunity lies in capturing long-term growth at the infrastructure layer of AI and digital services. Max-Hervé George, the firm's Chairman and Co-CEO, sees the shift as essential. 'We are at the start of a secular transformation in how data is processed, stored, and monetized,' he said. 'Our aim is to invest not just in trends, but in foundations.' The move comes as Europe grapples with its digital dependence on non-European cloud providers. Policy momentum—driven by digital sovereignty goals and the Green Deal—is pushing for domestically owned, carbon-conscious data infrastructure. SWI's focus on this intersection of technology and sustainability is timely. While other firms are chasing late-stage AI startups, SWI's thesis is more infrastructure-first. The firm is pursuing green data centre sites, AI-enabled logistics platforms, and software ecosystems that integrate with the European regulatory framework. This conservative yet forward-looking strategy allows SWI to stay above the noise while investing in defensible, long-term assets. Strategically, SWI's multi-sector background gives it an edge in identifying real-world bottlenecks in AI deployment, whether they be latency issues in logistics or lack of processing power in edge computing applications. This intelligence is already informing the firm's pipeline, which includes AI infrastructure hubs in secondary European markets where power availability, land cost, and policy support align. 'SWI is not just moving capital—we're translating vision into infrastructure,' George added. 'We're not reacting to today's headlines. We're investing in tomorrow's reality.' With one foot in the physical economy and one in the digital, SWI Group appears well-placed to bridge Europe's past and future.
International Business Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- International Business Times
Max-Hervé George: From French Prodigy to Architect of a €10 Billion Investment Platform
At 36 years old, Metz-born Max-Hervé George already straddles two worlds many financiers never bridge: the gilded circles of luxury hospitality and the button-down boardrooms of institutional capital. His new group formation, SWI Group, manages more than €10 billion in assets, following this spring's merger of London-based Icona Capital and Swiss real-assets house Stoneweg a deal Max-Hervé George personally fusioned and now co-leads. A Head Start in High Stakes Max-Hervé George's appetite for outsized bets surfaced early. Bornin Metz, France, he left law school at 21 to flip his first commercial property near Geneva and ploughed the profits into what would become Ultima Capital. By 2012 he was co-founding Ultima's ultra-luxury chalet portfolio; the flagship Ultima Gstaad opened in 2016 and helped land him on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list three years later. In 2023 he sold his remaining 33 % stake in Ultima for a reported US $1.4 billion enterprise value. Icona Capital: The Dry Run Operating out of London, Icona Capital specialised in "special-situations real estate" value-add deals like Ireland's Liffey Park tech campus and a Madrid logistics conversion. But Icona also revealed Max-Hervé George's wider ambitions: in 2022 it snapped up 40 % of Stoneweg, seeding an €8 billion platform that foreshadowed today's SWI Group. SWI Group: Scale Meets Governance The March 2025 unification of Icona and Stoneweg under the SWI banner instantly vaulted Max-Hervé George into the European big league: 350 employees, 26 offices across 18 countries, and a balance-sheet that spans data centres, logistics boxes, city-centre offices and a nascent sports-and-entertainment vertical. RathFollowing the launch of SWI Group, Max-Hervé George announced an International Strategic Advisory Board chaired by Vivendi boss Arnaud de Puyfontaine, wealth-management veteran Simon Benhamou and real-asset guru Olivier Jollin. Their remit: apply Fortune-500 discipline to a millennial-led growth story. It was a signal to pensions and sovereign funds that SWI's break-neck expansion would come with adult supervision. Management Style: High Velocity, High Visibility Although Max-Hervé George's public persona is by nature private, a single LinkedIn post announcing SWI's board hit 120,000 impressions, buoyed by congratulatory emojis from Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc and football icon Andrés Iniesta, both newly minted special advisers to SWI's Sports & Entertainment Committee. That digital fluency pays practical dividends: the firm's €500 million green bond in May priced 130 bps over mid-swaps and closed 3.8 × oversubscribed, an outlier result in a jittery credit market. Asia on the Radar Singapore bankers whisper that Max-Hervé George is eyeing Marina Bay for his first Asia hub hardly surprising given Southeast Asia's forecast 15–20 % CAGR in data-centre demand. Asked by IBT Singapore about the rumour, he responds humbly "Singapore has many opportunities and one would be lucky to get a stake". Beyond the Balance Sheet Friends describe Max-Hervé George as "relentlessly competitive" traits perhaps rooted in his stint handing out heavyweight judo medals at the Tokyo Olympics and his Aries star-sign bravado. Yet colleagues note a softer angle: hands-on mentoring of scholarship students and a private foundation that bankrolls children's oncology research.. What Comes Next Over coffee in London's Fitzrovia, Max-Hervé George outlines a three-year roadmap: 2 GW hyperscale build-out across five European countries, stitched together via SWI's AiOnX platform. €1.2 bn private-credit fund to finance grid upgrades underpinning those data centres. Sports/Media JV that pairs elite athletes with content studios "patronage for the TikTok age," he quips. Each pillar, he argues, leverages the same formula: institutional capital plus pop-culture "brand gravity" plus a forensic ESG audit trail. The Takeaway Max-Hervé George's rise reads like a millennial fairy-tale lavish chalets nine-figure exits but the through-line is unusually clear: bet early, be agile but aggressive, scale fast, and professionalise governance before the sceptics ask. If he can keep that balance, France's onetime "golden boy" may yet redefine how a new generation of asset managers talks to the world's most conservative capital.
Gulf Today
17-06-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
Swiss-Based SWI Group Targets Europe's AI Infrastructure Gap
Under the watch of Chairman Max-Hervé George, the Swiss investment firm is steering long-term capital toward the backbone of Europe's digital economy. SWI Group, a diversified investment firm headquartered in Switzerland, is repositioning itself to meet the demands of Europe's fast-changing digital economy. With a deep bench in real estate, private equity, and structured finance, the firm is now focusing heavily on artificial intelligence and data centre infrastructure—sectors increasingly viewed as central to economic resilience and technological sovereignty. This pivot reflects a broader realignment within European capital markets, as traditional asset classes face margin compression and geopolitical volatility. For SWI, the opportunity lies in capturing long-term growth at the infrastructure layer of AI and digital services. Max-Hervé George, the firm's Chairman and Co-CEO, sees the shift as essential. 'We are at the start of a secular transformation in how data is processed, stored, and monetized,' he said. 'Our aim is to invest not just in trends, but in foundations.' The move comes as Europe grapples with its digital dependence on non-European cloud providers. Policy momentum—driven by digital sovereignty goals and the Green Deal—is pushing for domestically owned, carbon-conscious data infrastructure. SWI's focus on this intersection of technology and sustainability is timely. While other firms are chasing late-stage AI startups, SWI's thesis is more infrastructure-first. The firm is pursuing green data centre sites, AI-enabled logistics platforms, and software ecosystems that integrate with the European regulatory framework. This conservative yet forward-looking strategy allows SWI to stay above the noise while investing in defensible, long-term assets. Strategically, SWI's multi-sector background gives it an edge in identifying real-world bottlenecks in AI deployment, whether they be latency issues in logistics or lack of processing power in edge computing applications. This intelligence is already informing the firm's pipeline, which includes AI infrastructure hubs in secondary European markets where power availability, land cost, and policy support align. 'SWI is not just moving capital—we're translating vision into infrastructure,' George added. 'We're not reacting to today's headlines. We're investing in tomorrow's reality.' With one foot in the physical economy and one in the digital, SWI Group appears well-placed to bridge Europe's past and future.
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Dumfries and Galloway residents presented with British Empire Medals
Sue Gourlay and Anne Rooke learned they were to receive the accolades in the King's New Year Honours list when it was announced at the start of 2025. Two Stewartry residents have been presented with their British Empire Medals. Sue Gourlay and Anne Rooke learned they were to receive the accolades in the King's New Year Honours list when it was announced at the start of 2025. They were joined by family and friends in Kirkcudbright council chambers on Friday for the presentation of the medals by the Lord Lieutenant of the Stewartry, the Lord Sinclair. Mrs Gourlay now lives in Haugh of Urr after she and husband Frank ran Barend Holiday Village horse riding and holiday complex at Sandyhills for a number of years. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. She was recognised for nearly four decades of voluntary work, including her involvement with Colvend Public Hall and SWI as well as Colvend and Southwick Community Council. She also served with the British Horse Society (BHS) for three decades, receiving their order of merit award in 2014. Mrs Rooke was recognised for services to education and the Castle Douglas community. She is currently the cleaning supervisor at Castle Douglas High School.
RTÉ News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Galway United's Kiwi hero Moses Dyer right at home in 'mad' LOI
The word "mad" pops up quite a few times when Moses Dyer reflects on his stay at Galway United to date. The in-form attacker was named the SWI/SSE Airtricity Player of the Month for April on Wednesday. His signing looks like a masterstroke by John Caulfield, who first approached Dyer last September when he was on loan at Canadian club Pacific FC from Vancouver. Caulfield, sitting to Dyer's right for their media duties, describes the New Zealand international as "a beautiful person" and smiles like a proud father when the 28-year-old lays out the story of his career to date, and journey to the west. Dyer has certainly been around the block - 11 clubs in 11 years is testament to that - and has played in Australia, Canada, North America and Norway. So it's worth paying attention when he says he's never experienced anything quite like the League of Ireland. "The first game of the season was crazy, it was against Cork away," he recalls. "I didn't know what to expect at all. I'd been playing in Canada and America. You get some big crowds over there, sometimes 12,000. But what was it, 6,000, 7,000 at that Cork game? You could have a full stadium, a 20,000-seater in North America and it wouldn't even compare to Ireland. "Even our home games, it's what, 4,500/5,000? I've played in front of massive crowds for New Zealand, but never in front of passionate fans like this. "That's kind of what I mean by 'mad'." "It's 90 minutes, 95 minutes of hectic, high intensity energy, but he's physically strong." It's always a roll of the dice to bring overseas players into the league, but Caulfield hit the jackpot this time. Dyer has won 11 caps for his country, and though he hasn't played for the All Whites since 2018, he still has belief he'll get another chance. Scoring goals here won't do him any harm. Nando Pijnaker and Max Mata both received New Zealand call-ups during their spells at Sligo Rovers. "We saw his qualities on video, but there's so many players that you look at, hundreds of players over the years, and you wonder whether you bring in," Caulfield adds. "I suppose with the humility he had in the sense that our league is mad, Moses has said that... it's 90 minutes, 95 minutes of hectic, high intensity energy, but he's physically strong. "Certainly after the first couple of weeks in training, in my head, there was no doubt that he was going to do very well for us." Dyer has been a big hit at Eamonn Deacy Park. He has a knack for scoring spectacular goals, while his tenacity and appetite for the battle has further endeared him to the fans. Galway have lost their last three games to trickle down to eighth in an incredibly congested table. But they're still only six points off league leaders Shamrock Rovers. There'll be no panic in the ranks ahead of Friday's home clash against a struggling Sligo Rovers. "The fans are very intense," Dyer smiles. "The football is 100 miles per hour. Every time we get on the ball, we're trying to do something with it. We're not messing about with it, just trying to keep the ball, keep the ball. We have a purpose. And I guess that's what I mean by mad. Just get the ball up the field and try to score." Caulfield highlighted a mounting injury list that's perhaps contributed towards Galway's recent stutter. A Connacht derby offers them a great opportunity to get things back on track. "I suppose you're all used to the Dublin derbies above with Rovers, Bohs, Pat's, Shels, and probably down here it's just that supporter-driven, I suppose, having a cut off each other in the best possible way," Caulfield says. "It's just that bit of friendly rivalry between both supporters because there's only two teams in Connacht. "The investment in the league nationwide has grown dramatically. And the stakes have been upped. "The challenge for the provincial clubs - particularly Sligo, Galway, Cork and possibly Waterford - is competing because you're on a much lesser budget than the four Dublin clubs and Derry. "That's the challenge. That's why you have to work so hard. That's why you have to try and see can you find the likes of Moses and these guys who are maybe not in the public eye. "There are ways you can find these guys that will come in and make a difference."
