FFP Advisors is a Cayman Islands based SIBL Registered Person expressly established to provide investment advice and management.
They have specialist knowledge and expertise across a wide range of investment strategies, asset classes, industries and geographies and have many years’ experience within the financial services industry. The extent of their role will always be unique to each client and would be subject to each client’s investment objectives, restrictions and guidelines as detailed in the client’s respective governing documentation.
FFP Advisors has been engaged by investors and directors to assist in ongoing matters on both a temporary and permanent capacity bringing their extensive expertise and experience to the table. The team has also assisted multiple key stakeholders with the soft wind down of both hedge funds and private equity funds either acting as replacement manager or investment advisor, particularly where there are hard to sell residual assets.
Depending on the circumstances of the fund, its investors and its key stakeholders, we can offer several approaches. Each approach has its own benefits and some situations may warrant the application of multiple approaches concurrently.
Investment Management Services
- Replacement investment manager or GP to a fund. The introduction of a replacement investment manager is particularly effective where funds find themselves in a state of limbo. The directors or service providers of the fund can achieve dramatic cost savings through the appointment of a new manager who endeavors to liquidate hard-to-sell positions.
- Management of assets for both short- and long-term time horizons on an interim or permanent basis.
- Cash management and enhanced yield strategies including escrow agent services.
Investment Advisory Services
- Brokerage services to assist stakeholders such as fund directors and GPs with the sale of hard-to-sell illiquid assets.
- Investment recommendations and assistance across multiple asset classes including debt, equity, derivatives and more obscure positions.
- Portfolio valuation and independent pricing agent.
- Investment consultants with deep experience in the implementation and coordination of disciplined unwinding procedures for illiquid or tightly held securities within a fund.
- Risk management.
Nil Value/Hard to Sell Assets – Allowing Funds to Close
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- Use of a dedicated cell in our Asset Resolution Company SPC (ARC) to facilitate the transfer of illiquid assets and positions restricted by litigation out of a fund structure which may otherwise prevent an efficient closure of an entity. ARC allows the closing fund to terminate its custodian and trading accounts, remove assets from their books, and complete the orderly liquidation of the fund.
- Investors may retain their beneficial interest in the assets held in the segregated portfolio if there is an expected future value otherwise the assets may be transferred to a dump cell in ARC for illiquid assets with zero value or no expected future value.
Investment Management and Soft Wind Down Services key contacts
Our experience covers some unique situations that demonstrate our commitment to solving problems. Relevant examples of our recent work include:
Voluntary Liquidation & Fund custody account closure
We acted as voluntary liquidator to a Cayman Islands master feeder structure that held five nil valued assets. The master fund’s prime broker was unable to close the custody account due to these positions. The positions were transferred into a newly created segregated portfolio account with our broker to facilitate the closure of the master fund’s custody account and thereafter the dissolution of the funds. On this occasion the fund investors retain their pari-passu interest in the assets through a nominee arrangement until the assets are sold.
Share acquisition
A group held a non-transferable short position, with associated margin cash, which would take several years to liquidate. The cost of keeping the group active was unduly burdensome, so in order to expedite the return of the surplus unencumbered assets ARC become the sole shareholder to retain the ongoing ownership and management of the master fund including the short positions and associated margin cash.
Legacy low and nil valued asset rationalisation
An international investment management firm with a large volume of low or nil value assets held across several funds engaged ARC to assist with a cost saving rationalisation project. Despite the assets’ low or nil value, the prime broker could not formally write them off due to their continued existence. ARC assisted by transferring these assets into a dedicated segregated portfolio cell in ARC with legal and beneficial ownership being transferring to us. The empty custody accounts were then closed to facilitate the dissolution of the various funds.
Receivership
We were appointed as receiver over shares of a private limited company in Singapore. Rather than hold the shares in the name of the receiver, for safe custody, the shares were transferred to a dedicated ARC segregated portfolio until the receivership could be concluded.