EuroFin Asia Group is a global, independent merchant banking organization headquartered in Singapore that capitalizes on acute market expertise and strong network in real economy to offer a diverse range of investment services and solutions across the capital structure spectrum. This is managed through three business lines in asset management, wealth management and private capital. The Group manages over USD800 million.
EFA Merchant Finance, the Group’s asset management arm, is an award-winning merchant finance specialist whose primary business is managing capital in a variety of financing strategies within the commodity and natural resource sectors. In 2006, EFA Merchant Finance launched Asia’s first fund with an exclusive focus on trade finance, the LH Asian Trade Finance Fund. In 2012, two further funds were launched with variations on the same underlying strategy, the EFA Dynamic Trade Finance Fund, and the Asia Islamic Trade Finance Fund.
In this Opalesque.TV BACKSTAGE video, Francois Dotta speaks about:
– What is commodity trade finance?
– Typology of companies EuroFin Asia finances
– Trade finance funds’ benefits to investors:
- Proxy vehicle to international trade flows
- Not correlated to other asset classes
- Liquidity
- Low volatility
- Income generating
– Risks in trade finance:
- Performance risk of the borrower
- Credit risk of the counterpart
- Fraud risk
– EFA Merchant Finance’s three dedicated trade finance funds:
- LH Asian Trade Finance Fund
- EFA Dynamic Trade Finance Fund
- Asia Islamic Trade Finance Fund
– Outlook:
- Strong demand from Middle East for Sharia compliant trade finance fund
- More opportunities, higher returns for trade finance in Middle East, Europe
- Bright outlook for trade finance as strategy is positively correlated to rate increases
Francois Dotta: Trade Finance Generates Consistent And Uncorrelated Returns With Low Volatility
Francois Dotta is a Partner of EuroFin Asia Group and the Head of EFA Merchant Finance where he oversees origination and portfolio management activities. He has over 10 years of experience in trade and commodity finance in Asia.
