Alfred 'Fredy' Gantner, born in 1968 in Baden, Switzerland, is a highly influential Swiss billionaire and co-founder of Partners Group, a global private equity firm managing over $135 billion in assets. His career trajectory is a unique blend of traditional Swiss finance and American academic rigor.

He began his formal financial career by completing a banking apprenticeship at a former UBS subsidiary. He then moved to the United States, earning an MBA from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah. This was followed by internships at global finance giants like Bankers Trust and Goldman Sachs. This experience, combined with his religious conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 23, provided a structured, ethical, and global perspective that defined his later investment philosophy.

Alfred Gantner’s career breakthrough came in 1996 when he co-founded Partners Group in Zug, Switzerland, alongside two former Goldman Sachs colleagues, Marcel Erni and Urs Wietlisbach. The vision was to build a different kind of firm, focusing on private equity secondaries and bespoke client solutions.

Gantner served as the firm’s CEO from 1996 to 2005 and then as Chairman from 2005 to 2014. His most defining leadership decision was guiding the firm through its IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange in 2006. This move was strategically designed to maintain independence and attract top talent by making employees and partners major shareholders, a decision made during a 48-hour brainstorming session in a spartan cabin. His strategic prowess extended to the luxury sector in 2022 when he became the Chairman of Breitling SA, the prestigious Swiss watchmaker, overseeing its strategic expansion.

Alfred Gantner’s philanthropy is heavily influenced by his religious convictions and his desire to preserve Swiss political and economic independence. His social impact is dual: empowering young people and strategic political activism.

• Educational Support: He is a long-standing member of the National Advisory Council of Brigham Young University (BYU), his alma mater, actively contributing to the development of business and finance education.
• Political Activism: He is a non-partisan political activist, having built a network of entrepreneurs called 'Kompass/Europa' that opposes the EU-Switzerland framework agreement, advocating for Swiss sovereignty and independence.
• Impact Investing: His firm is a pioneer in responsible investment, being one of the first large private markets firms to sign the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI). He also championed the firm's investment in the Borssele Offshore Wind Farm project.