Quaero Capital SA

What Quaero Capital SA does

Quaero Capital SA is an independent, Geneva-headquartered asset management firm incorporated in 2005, operating through regulated subsidiaries in Switzerland (FINMA), France (AMF GP-14000016), Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom (FCA 434203, AIFMD). The firm runs a multi-strategy platform organized into Private Equity (European Infrastructure and French Real Estate) and Investment Funds (European Small Cap Equity, Thematic & Regional Equity, Fixed Income & Convertible Bonds). Its flagship franchise is the Quaero European Infrastructure Fund series, which has collectively raised more than €2.7 billion over 10 years across three successive vintages; the most recent fund, QEIF III, closed at over €1.4 billion against a €1.25 billion target with an additional €400 million in co-investment capacity. The firm invests across renewable energy, social infrastructure, telecommunications, transport, and public services in Europe, with recent deployments including the SHS Grenoble university PPP (42.5% stake, 2018), the Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant (49% stake acquired from Ignitis Group for €120 million in March 2026), Socamex (2022) and Delska (2020). The infrastructure team was established in 2014 by partners recruited from Edmond de Rothschild's infrastructure and project finance advisory practice.

Quaero's business model is a traditional asset management revenue structure: recurring management fees on assets under management across infrastructure, real estate, and public-market vehicles, supplemented by performance fees and carried interest on successful infrastructure investments. Distribution is exclusively institutional and professional — the firm's website gates content by investor type and country of domicile across 12 European jurisdictions plus Singapore, and it excludes US Persons. The firm targets pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices through direct institutional sales and regulated fund distribution. Three funds currently hold French ISR (SRI) label certification under updated ISR V3 ESG standards: Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Bond Investment Opportunity, OPPCI Educatio, and a third real estate fund launched in early 2025.

The firm is privately held and management-controlled, with no parent company disclosed. Headcount is reported in the 51–100 range, with offices in Geneva (headquarters), Zurich, Paris, London, and Luxembourg. Core personnel are concentrated in project finance and infrastructure, drawn from top European engineering schools (Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, EPFL) and prior roles at Edmond de Rothschild, the European Investment Bank, KPMG, EY, AXA IM, and BNP Paribas. Customer-facing operations are supported by compliance, risk, legal, and ESG functions, and the firm maintains a responsible investment framework with formal climate, exclusion, engagement, and voting policies.

Name

Quaero Capital SA

Legal name

Quaero Capital SA

Website

https://quaerocapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Quaero Capital SA is a Geneva-based independent asset manager operating regulated subsidiaries in Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, and the UK. It manages European infrastructure and French real estate private equity funds alongside European small-cap, thematic, and fixed-income public-market strategies for institutional and professional investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Asset Management

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Open-End Investment Funds (52591)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Assets — Fund-of-Funds & Secondaries (FSAAAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG)

Keywords

• Private equity infrastructure
• Asset management services
• Infrastructure fund management
• Institutional investment funds
• European real estate investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Genève

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Asset Management Fees: Quaero Capital generates revenue through management fees charged on assets under management across its infrastructure funds, real estate funds, and public market investment funds. The firm manages multiple fund structures including Quaero European Infrastructure Fund III, French real estate funds, and equity/fixed income strategies.
2. Performance Fees (Carried Interest): The firm likely earns performance fees or carried interest on successful infrastructure fund investments, as is standard for private equity infrastructure managers. The Vilnius CHP transaction and €1.4 billion QEIF III fundraising demonstrate active deal activity generating potential carried interest.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Quaero Capital SA is an independent, specialist asset management firm managing investment funds across two pillars: Private Equity (European Infrastructure and French Real Estate) and Investment Funds (European Small Cap Equity, Thematic & Regional Equity, and Fixed Income & Convertible Bonds). The firm manages over €2.7 billion in cumulative infrastructure commitments across three European Infrastructure funds, with QEIF III raising more than €1.4 billion in 2025 plus €400 million in co-investment capacity. Distribution is restricted to professional and institutional investors through regulated entities in Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom.

Product overview

Quaero Capital SA is a Swiss-based asset management company operating as a multi-strategy investment firm. The company offers a platform of investment products organized into two main divisions: Private Equity (encompassing European Infrastructure and French Real Estate strategies) and Investment Funds (including European Small Cap Equity, Thematic & Regional Equity, and Fixed Income & Convertible Bonds). The European Infrastructure funds, particularly the Quaero European Infrastructure Fund III, represent a flagship offering with over €2.7 billion raised historically. Fixed income offerings include the QCF (Lux) – Bond Investment Opportunity fund which holds French ISR label certification. The company manages approximately €2.7 billion in total assets across its infrastructure business and operates through affiliated entities in Luxembourg, France, and the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Quaero European Infrastructure Fund III (QEIF III): Third infrastructure fund exceeding €1.4 billion in commitments
• QCF (Lux) – Bond Investment Opportunity

Products and services

• Quaero European Infrastructure Fund III (QEIF III) Third flagship European infrastructure private equity fund exceeding €1.4 billion in commitments (surpassing the €1.25 billion target set at launch in H2 2023) and raising an additional €400 million in co-investment capacity. Invests across Europe in renewable energy, social infrastructure, telecommunications, transport, and public services, for institutional and professional investors.
• QCF (Lux) – Bond Investment Opportunity Fixed income fund that has renewed its French ISR label certification in line with updated ISR V3 guidelines, meeting enhanced ESG standards including broader sector exclusions, stricter ESG-filtering thresholds, higher climate transition alignment expectations, and stronger engagement/voting requirements. Available to professional and institutional investors.
• European Small Cap Equity Fund Public market investment strategy focused on European small-cap equities, managed as part of the Quaero Capital Funds family and targeted at professional and qualified investors seeking differentiated exposure to smaller European listed companies.
• Thematic & Regional Equity Fund Public market investment strategies targeting thematic and regional equity opportunities within European markets, offered under the Quaero Capital Funds umbrella for professional and institutional investors.
• Fixed Income & Convertible Bonds Fund Fixed income investment strategy including convertible bonds, offering diversification in changing market environments and currently featuring the ISR-labelled QCF (Lux) – Bond Investment Opportunity vehicle, distributed to professional and qualified investors.
• OPPCI Educatio Real estate fund certified by the French SRI (ISR) label, launched in early 2025, part of Quaero Capital's French real estate private equity offering for professional and institutional investors.

Quantifiable outcome

• €1.4 billion+ raised for QEIF III, exceeding €1.25 billion target
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ignitis GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2026Quaero European Infrastructure Fund III, managed by Quaero Capital, acquired a 49% stake in UAB Vilniaus kogeneracinė jėgainė (Vilnius CHP) from Ignitis Group. The transaction valued 100% of the plant at EUR 244 million. The CHP plant has electrical capacity of up to 93 MW and thermal capacity of up to 239 MW, using post-sorting non-recyclable municipal waste and locally sourced renewable biomass as fuel. The transaction fulfilled a requirement linked to EUR 138 million in European Commission state aid.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Igneo Infrastructure Partners: London-based infrastructure specialist (formerly First State Investments) investing in mid-life European infrastructure assets. Comparable investment thesis (mid-life core/core-plus European infra) and LP base, with similar fund sizes to Quaero's infra vintages.
• Antin Infrastructure Partners: Paris-based specialist European infrastructure private equity firm raising multi-billion flagship funds. Highly comparable to Quaero's European Infrastructure strategy in fund focus, European LP base, and infrastructure sector mix (energy, transport, digital, social infra).
• Cube Infrastructure Managers: Luxembourg-headquartered mid-market European infrastructure fund manager (Cube Infrastructure Fund I/II/III). Closely comparable as a boutique/specialist European infrastructure GP focusing on similar mid-sized assets in transport, energy, and social infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• BlackRock Infrastructure: Global asset manager's infrastructure platform raising large flagship funds targeting European and global core/core-plus infrastructure. Comparable in targeting the same institutional investor base for European infrastructure exposure, but with significantly greater scale and product breadth.
• ICG (Intermediate Capital Group): London-listed alternative asset manager with significant European infrastructure equity and credit strategies. Comparable in European institutional LP base and infrastructure asset focus, though with a much larger and more diversified platform.
• Macquarie Asset Management: World's largest infrastructure asset manager with flagship European infrastructure funds. Highly comparable asset class exposure (renewable energy, transport, utilities) but operates at mega-fund scale well above Quaero's boutique capacity.
• EQT Infrastructure: Stockholm-based EQT runs large flagship European/Global Infrastructure funds with a thematic, value-add approach. Comparable in target asset class (renewable energy, transport, digital infra) and pan-European deal sourcing, though at materially larger fund scale than Quaero.
• Brookfield Infrastructure Partners: Global infrastructure platform with significant European exposure including renewable energy and utilities. Comparable asset class focus (CHP, energy transition assets) but at multi-tens-of-billions scale; represents the upper bound of competitive pressure for European infrastructure deals.
• Partners Group: Swiss-headquartered global private markets firm with a sizeable European infrastructure franchise. Comparable as a Switzerland-based multi-strategy manager serving institutional LPs across infrastructure and private equity, though at vastly larger AUM and fund scale.

Emerging players

• Tages Capital: Independent European alternative asset manager with European infrastructure and renewable energy strategies. Comparable as a smaller, specialist European infra manager with a similar institutional LP focus, though with broader energy/climate fund offerings than Quaero.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10270422

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Quaero Capital SA