Adidas Dynasty-Linked MFO's Growth Ambitions

Tom Burroughes

12 October 2020

The chief executive of a newly-minted multi-family office in Florida is looking forward to growing the business, one that can tap into a renowned sports business world made possible by the founder family.

In early September FWR reported that the three grandsons of Adi Dassler, creator of sports and apparel brand Adidas, have created the Adi Dassler International Family Office. It is based in Miami and Tampa.

The CEO of the office is Julian Bradham. Founded and originally based in Nassau, Bahamas, Bradham and the Adi Dassler family restructured ADIFO and relocated the headquarters to Miami along with founding partner Allen Johnson, formerly of Alex Brown.

“At this point, we have a mixture of different asset classes that make up what you'd expect from a family office. Given that we still have assets in transition, we expect to be well north of $500 million by the first quarter of 2021,” Bradham said.

“In the MFO proper, we have four professionals and two staff. We anticipate adding two more professionals before year-end, and the requisite staff. Our back office, compliance, and operations has approximately 15 to 20 people that work with us,” he continued.

In addition to launching US operations, ADIFO has partnered with Merchant Investment Management backed registered investment advisor Apollon Wealth Management, to provide financial planning, technology, client support, and business platform services. Founded in 2018 and based in Charleston, Apollon set out to change the individual investor model from one that focuses on product to one that is client directed.

The creation of this new body is another sign of how Florida has become a wealth management hotspot in recent years.

FWR asked Bradham about different parts of the Adidas family jigsaw, such as IeAD Sports Accelerator organization.

“We have an excellent relationship with leAD. Yes, we would have the opportunity to invest in the companies they are coaching, and we are looking forward to working more closely with them as time goes by,” he said.

Asked how much connection the office still has to Europe and to Germany in particular, Bradham replied: “Some of the family members that are involved in the MFO live in Europe/Germany and we are in contact almost on a daily basis….At this point, we are privy to opportunities, in Europe, but as an MFO we consider those opportunities and exposures to be in a developmental stage.”