Lay & Wheeler and WineFi launch fine wine investment syndicate
Lay & Wheeler and WineFi, the fine wine investment platform part-owned by Coterie Holdings, have launched a wine investment syndicate together following WineFi’s successful crowdfunding earlier this year.
The new Lay & Wheeler Collection, which is open to investors until 20 August with a minimum investment of £3,000, is a “data-driven, expertly-curated” wine investment syndicate that “draws together premium allocations from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Champagne, Tuscany and select producers beyond these regions”, according to a post on LinkedIn, including a small allocation of emerging regions such as Piedmont, Spain, Rhône, and South Australia.
The anticipated holding period is five years, the company confirmed, although individual wines may be sold “opportunistically” over the life of the syndicate, to make the most of the market. It highlighted that the current softness in fine wine prices “presented a rare opportunity to acquire exceptional bottles at levels not seen in several years”.
The launch comes off the back of the fine wine investment platform’s successful £1.1 million crowdfunding drive which was launched to provide cost-effective way of investing in fine wine with a professional asset management ethos that would “make fine wine so accessible that it can feasibly form a part of every portfolio”.
WineFi, which is part-owned by Coterie Holdings, was launched in October 2023 by Callum Woodcock, a financial asset manager who came to wine through investing, with Coterie Holdings brought in “very early in the platform’s development”, Woodcock told db. Coterie’s CEO Michael Saunders was appointed a director in February 2024.
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Matthew Small, the former senior portfolio manager of Cru Wine who was appointed as WineFi’s Head of Investment earlier this year is the syndicate’s portfolio manager, backed by an investment committee that includes industry stalwarts Peter Lunzer, Alan Griffiths MW and James Fletcher. Shenil Patil, co-founder of advisory group Drinks Sherpa and former CEO of Lucky Saint, is also on the board.
Speaking to db last October, Woodcock explained that as part of the wider Coterie group, WineFi would be able to use Coterie Vaults to store its wines, while sourcing and brokering wine through Coterie’s subsidiary merchant Lay & Wheeler. It could also offer clients the ability to borrow against the value of their portfolios through Coterie’s fine wine finance arm, Jera.
In addition, the tie-in boosted WineFi’s credibility, Woodcock said and “made a lot of people sit up and take notice of what we are doing”.
Speaking to db last June, Saunders said that data would be a key plank of the wider business’ ambitions and broadened its knowledge of what’s going on in the market. “What we’re trying to do across all our businesses is become the repository of the best fine wine data in the game,” he said.
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