Calunius Capital LLP has appointed Christian Stuerwald as Head of Case Assessment. His arrival precedes the first close of the Calunius Fund.
The Calunius Fund will invest directly in the funding of the cost of large-scale commercial litigation.
Christian has joined Calunius from Allianz Litigation Funding where he was Head of UK Litigation Funding. He is one of the most experienced litigation risk assessors in Europe, having approved over 150 litigation investment transactions.
The launch of the Calunius Fund is a natural development for Calunius’ business, following its success over the past three years as an investment adviser arranging and structuring complex litigation funding transactions involving syndicates of funders and hedge providers. The Fund will be a private fund – against the recent trend for AIM listings of litigation funds.
Calunius Chief Executive Mark Wells comments:
“We are delighted to welcome Christian on board. He is one of the most experienced litigation funding underwriters in Europe and his arrival comes at a pivotal time for us ahead of the first close of the Calunius Fund.
Calunius has been active in the litigation funding market for three years and the launch of its own fund is the perfect time for Christian to be joining us. The team has an unrivalled knowledge of the market and our deal making skills will provide the Fund with a major competitive advantage in adding value for our investors and funded claimants."
The Calunius Fund will focus on funding commercial claims arising from business disputes. Chairman, Leslie Perrin, former managing partner at international law firm, Osborne Clarke, says;
“We will not be funding divorce or defamation cases. Our focus will be on economically rational claims by commercially responsible Claimants in a business context.”
Mick Smith, a co-founder of Calunius, adds;
“Our new Fund will be about commercial claims which, as a result of the structuring skills that we have developed, can include the largest and most complex claims in the market. There will be no effective upper size limit to the claims that the Fund can take on. As well as the UK we will also be focussed on those overseas markets where Calunius already has established partnership relationships with whom the right deals will be co-funded, such as Europe, Australia, the US and certain offshore jurisdictions.”
Calunius Capital is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.