Aquitaine Advisors is an independent, integrity-driven business and strategic advisory firm.

The origins of Aquitaine Advisors begin with Aquitaine Investment Advisors Limited (AIA), founded in Hong Kong in 1999 by Marlene Wittman and Arthur Yama and successfully managed for 22 consecutive years.

AIA was an Asian-based specialist in alternative investments in the region. The firm, was an investment intermediary licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong as an investment advisor and investment manager. AIA originated and manages Asian alternative investment products and services on behalf of its institutional and qualified investors located around the world. AIA offered its investors a portfolio of funds that represent the full range of liquidities inherent in the alternative asset class:  Asian private equity, Asian venture capital, Asian hedge strategies and Asian real estate investment advisory services and funds.

AIA’s principal mandate was to provide investment advisory and marketing services to its buy and sell-side clients. In doing so, AIA carried out its investment ideas and manager selections based, at that early time, on introducing a diversified and an innovative selection approach to its clients. As an example, alternative investments, emerging markets and emerging managers and emerging sectors were a particular early focus.

And, from an early date, some common investment criteria characteristically applied such as strong management, clear and consistently-maintained Investment focus and, strategies that invested in companies that demonstrated the vision and ability to increase their market share.

In addition to its primary investment management mandates, AIA also provided pan-Asian marketing and asset management services to external sponsors and managers of select alternative strategies.

These strategies were selected on the basis of the evolving preferences of AIA’s loyal and longstanding investor base in combination with investments in evolving disruptive new strategies and technologies such as healthcare and health-tech, fin-tech, edu-tech, agri-tech, SaaS, data science and machine learning as well as transitional sectors that were adroitly moving toward, and already capturing the early investment benefits of, the AI ecosystem. 

In this respect, Aquitaine Advisors builds on and carries forward the early predilection of its predecessor.