Members' Spotlight: Praude Asset Management - When results speak for themselves

When results speak for themselves

A successful and award-winning player in the investment sphere, this 16-year-old company can afford to reply on performance rather than promotion. Antonia Zammit, the Chief Executive Officer of Praude Asset Management Ltd explains.

For those who don’t know your company, can you provide some background?

Founded in 2009 in Malta by Avv. Massimo Malvestio, Praude Asset Management Ltd is a boutique, independent investment management company with a clear vision: to deliver long-term, sustainable performance through disciplined risk management. In 2010, Praude was granted a Category 2 Licence by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), authorising the company to provide investment services to professional clients.

Now in its 16th year of operation, Praude manages just over €950 million in assets across its client base, predominantly through its four funds domiciled in Malta, Luxembourg, and Ireland.

From the outset, our philosophy has been straightforward yet powerful: portfolio management only creates lasting value when strong performance is combined with accurate and disciplined risk oversight. This principle continues to guide us today, ensuring that every decision is grounded in prudence and aligned with our clients’ long-term growth.

‍

Can you share a little-known fact about your company?

Praude is the unique blend of legal and financial expertise at the heart of our investment process. The chairman of the Investment Committee and Portfolio Manager, Avv. Massimo Malvestio, brings over three decades of experience practising law in Northeast Italy. His deep knowledge of corporate legal matters combined with extensive expertise in value investing gives Praude a competitive edge – enabling us to identify opportunities that many portfolio managers might overlook. This fusion of legal insight and financial discipline is a defining quality that sets us apart.

Another distinguishing feature is that we have never actively marketed our funds. Instead, we allow our results to speak for themselves. When you look at the growth in assets under management across our funds, this approach is, in many ways, extraordinary – a reflection of the trust we have earned through performance rather than promotion.

‍

What are you currently working on and what are your company’s plans and strategic priorities for the coming years?

Our focus remains on what we do best: the disciplined, day-to-day management of our clients’ portfolios. At the same time, we are always seeking innovative ways to refine our approach and improve efficiency across our processes.

‍

Are there any projects or achievements of your company that you are exceptionally proud of?

We are proud of the performance of all the funds we manage, but the track record of our flagship, the Hermes Linder Fund, stands out as exceptional. Over its 22 years of operation, the Fund has consistently outperformed the main European indices. As at the end of August 2025, its AUM was of €630.50 million and it delivered a cumulative return of +1,105.79% since inception – equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of +12.12%. It has just closed its financial year (31/08/2025) with a return of +34.76% since the beginning of the same period. (Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results.)

The Hermes Linder Fund also carries a prestigious five-star rating from Morningstar, underscoring its consistent excellence. Its achievements have been recognised internationally, including the Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Award in 2018 for Best Equity Europe Fund over 3 Years, and most recently the LSEG Lipper Fund Award in 2025 as Europe Winner for Best Equity Europe Small and Mid-Cap Fund over 5 Years.

The Fund ranked first out of 81 funds in its category, with a performance of +66.37% over the period from 2020–2024 – years marked by unprecedented global challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

These results, in our view, are a testament to the discipline, resilience, and long-term vision that define Praude’s investment philosophy.

‍

What in your opinion makes Malta an effective jurisdiction to set up a business?

Malta offers more than just a favourable regulatory framework – it provides an ecosystem where agility meets stability. As a smaller jurisdiction, it allows businesses to build closer relationships with regulators, service providers, decision-makers, and other key stakeholders, fostering an environment where dialogue and responsiveness are possible in ways that larger financial centres cannot always match.

In many ways, Malta’s effectiveness lies in its balance: it is international in outlook yet personal in scale; rigorous in regulation yet open to innovation. For Praude, that balance has created the ideal platform to focus on what truly matters – managing our clients’ investments with independence and long-term vision.

What kind of people/companies in the financial services community would you want to connect with?

We look to connect with like-minded professionals who, like us, put the best interests of their investors at the heart of everything they do. We value building relationships with highly competent individuals within financial services, as well as with loyal, honest entrepreneurs from other sectors, whose integrity and innovation help strengthen the business community.

Antonia Zammit is the Chief Executive Officer of Praude Asset Management Ltd. She holds an LL.D. from the University of Malta and an LL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law from the London School of Economics. Admitted to the Bar in Malta in 2007, she spent nearly a decade with one of Malta’s leading law firms before moving in-house in 2015 to lead Praude.