Hugues Saint Seine
Partner
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- Full Name
- Hugues de Saint Seine
- Title
- Managing Partner (CIGP Hong Kong); member of Group Executive Senior Management
- Firm
- CIGP — Compagnie d'Investissements et de Gestion Privée
- Firm Type
- Swiss merchant bank / private investment & investment-banking firm (co-invests its own capital alongside clients). Note: aggregators list him under "Angel Investors," but CIGP is more accurately a merchant bank that seeds and grows businesses rather than a traditional angel syndicate.
- Investment Stage
- Early-stage / seed co-investment through CIGP's merchant-banking activity, plus M&A and growth/leveraged-finance advisory
- Check Size
- Not publicly disclosed
- Target Company Profile
- Not publicly disclosed; CIGP typically co-invests its own capital alongside clients to seed and grow businesses
- Sector Focus
- Generalist / sector-agnostic (M&A, leveraged finance, and co-investment across mid-market businesses)
- Geographic Focus
- Asia (Hong Kong / Greater China) with a broader European and cross-border reach through the CIGP/ICFG network
- Location
- Hong Kong SAR
Background
Hugues de Saint Seine is a Managing Partner at CIGP (Compagnie d'Investissements et de Gestion Privée), a Swiss financing-advisory and investment firm founded in Geneva in 1964 that today operates across three continents and five offices with more than fifty investment professionals. He joined CIGP in 2012 to build and lead its Hong Kong presence, and he serves as a member of the Group's Executive Senior Management and as the ICFG (International Corporate Finance Group) member for Hong Kong, China. Within CIGP he is a voting member of the Investment Committee, is co-responsible for the firm's asset allocation and investment strategy, and co-manages and co-leads the Group's Investment Banking activities.
Before CIGP, Hugues spent roughly a decade as a UK Financial Services Authority–approved investment professional working in London and Paris. He began his career in 2002 at BNP Paribas and went on to work at Credit Suisse, ABN Amro and Rothschild, advising corporate clients and private-equity sponsors on M&A and leveraged-finance transactions.
He holds a Master's degree in Finance from HEC Paris (HEC Business School). He speaks French and English fluently and Spanish proficiently. CIGP's Hong Kong entity is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for dealing in securities, advising on securities, and asset management.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests primarily through CIGP's merchant-banking model: the firm co-invests its own capital alongside clients "to help seed initiatives and grow their businesses," rather than running a conventional standalone angel/seed fund.
- Activity is generalist and mid-market, spanning M&A advisory, capital and debt fundraises, and leveraged finance — reflecting his background advising corporates and PE sponsors.
- Operates within CIGP/ICFG and Cognos Partners, a global network of independent mid-market M&A firms, giving deals cross-border (Europe–Asia) reach.
- As a voting Investment Committee member co-responsible for asset allocation and strategy, decisions are committee-driven and relationship-led rather than high-volume angel check-writing.
Notable Investments
- SMAG Holding → AEQUITA (2023): CIGP's Investment Banking team, which Hugues co-leads, advised on the sale of a 100% stake in SMAG Holding to AEQUITA — a representative example of the mid-market M&A/advisory deals CIGP executes.
- *No specific individually-attributed startup/seed portfolio companies for Hugues de Saint Seine are publicly disclosed;* CIGP's model is co-investment of its own balance-sheet capital alongside client mandates rather than a published venture portfolio.
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