Santander Asset Management has launched a fund investing in international trade finance assets and which is backed with €25 million from its parent bank.
Called the Santander Trade Finance Real Economy Fund I, the firm said the fund boosted its alternative investment range and that the investment from Santander bank secures part of the risk, with institutional investors offered to co-invest on an equal footing.
The assets in the Luxembourg-domiciled fund provide investors with a “countermeasure for today’s record-low interest rates” by offering returns above treasury and money markets, the firm said and added that Santander bank’s global transaction banking team was important in the creation of the fund.
Investments span Europe, the US and Asia, consisting of over 350 companies and with individual losses capped at 10%. Its average credit rating will be approximately BBB+ and it will have weekly exit windows.
Bertrand de Comminges, global head of trade finance investment, manages the fund and its investment committee will have two “world-renowned independent members”, namely Jean-François Lambert and Tom Jack.
Lambert’s 40-year career includes executive roles in HSBC’s trade finance division from 2000 to 2015. Jack’s 35-year career has taken in such areas as treasury management, risk assessment and M&A in the consumer goods, telecoms, public services and mining industries.
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