Clew ’93 Leaves Wall Street to Establish Wine Fund

An article by Krista Giovacco at Bloomberg.com recently featured Timothy Clew ’93 and Brian Mota as founders of The Wine Trust, the only private-equity-structured wine-investment fund in the United States with a targeted amount of more than $20 million. Their firm TWT Investment Partners LP, located in Ridgefield, Connecticut, is in the process of raising some $50 million for the trust, which is “more like a private-equity fund. The money invested is basically locked up for as long as eight years, which helps managers ride out a decline.”

Clew and Mota are former investment bankers.

Clew told Bloomberg: “This was an opportunity to take Wall Street-type disciplines and apply them to an asset class that was largely devoid of that type of thinking. ”

According to Bloomberg: “The fund buys both physical wine and futures — wine that is made and in casks but not yet bottled — directly from negociants to lock-in lower prices and secure significant quantities for investment of the most sought-after producers. It seeks wines with strong appreciation prospects after release, including … Bordeaux.”

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