FlexFunds: cost-efficient investment vehicles to raise international capital.

In the competitive world of asset management, efficiency is crucial for optimising investment strategies. In this scenario, investment vehicles have emerged as key tools that enable managers to adapt to a dynamic financial environment, offering their clients more sophisticated and personalised solutions.

FlexFunds, a leading company in creating and launching investment vehicles, has successfully disrupted the status quo by democratising access to these cost-effective financial instruments. Currently, investment advisors, portfolio managers, hedge funds, broker-dealers, and family offices can collaborate with FlexFunds to create investment vehicles similar to ETFs, facilitating capital raising on an international scale.

Portfolio managers now have numerous alternatives to select an investment vehicle that boosts the distribution of their strategies, whether listed or alternative. From conventional funds structured in Luxembourg or the Caribbean to actively managed Swiss certificates (commonly referred to as AMCs), UCITs, or structured notes, the options for “repackaging” and distributing a group of underlying assets are countless.

The securitisation or “repackaging” of assets has become a bridge to facilitate investor access and promote capital raising. Securitisation is a process that not only al- lows the conversion of multiple classes of assets, liquid or illiquid, into listed securities but also provides the inherent ability of exchange-traded products (ETPs) to transform assets into “bankable assets,” understood as assets capable of being distributed on various private banking platforms.

FlexFunds has partnered with internationally renowned service providers to offer customized, distributable, and cost-effective Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs). The company establishes independent investment vehicles like funds for managing strategies and global distribution to non-U.S. end investors. This is achieved through an asset securitisation program that creates ETPs, including services such as stock exchange listing, fund accounting, back-office services, and Net Asset Value calculation.

Specifically, an ETP is a listed security with its own ISIN code and distributable through Euroclear, whose underlying assets can be liquid, such as stocks or bonds, or illiquid, such as real estate.

With investor demand becoming increasingly complex and companies facing tight margins, asset management firms must change their strategies and business models to succeed in the current fluid and challenging environment.

“Not long ago, only a few large banks had the ability to structure a global note through an asset securitisation program,” says Emilio Veiga Gil, EVP, and CMO of FlexFunds. “We have disrupted the status quo by democratising access to efficient investment vehicles.

FlexFunds mitigates the most common challenges its clients face across various segments and geographies. A comparative analysis of the significant existing investment vehicles in the market is depicted above. FlexFunds offers investment vehicles for less than half the cost of alternatives in the market. For instance, clients can save up to 60% on ongoing maintenance costs with FlexFunds’ ETPs compared to conventional investment funds, such as those in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.

While structuring investment funds can be a tedious and lengthy process, taking over six months to launch, companies can set up FlexFunds’ ETPs in 6 to 8 weeks. Additionally, FlexFunds’ ETPs are flexible, as they can securitise multiple asset classes (listed and alternative investments) under customised terms.

“Thanks to FlexFunds’ solutions, you can ac- cess investment vehicles that securitise multiple asset classes, liquid and alternative,” says Jose Carlos Gonzalez-Navarro, CEO of FlexFunds. “Our differential is the coordination of a securitisation program quickly and efficiently, taking care of all phases of the process from end to end, providing a turnkey solution for our clients.”

AN INVESTMENT VEHICLE WITH MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS AND ADVANTAGES

FlexFunds ETPs have multiple applications due to their versatility:

• For portfolio managers: it provides centralised managed account advantages.
• In the case of funds managers (hedge funds, private equity, venture capital): it eases access to global capital markets.
• Alternative asset and real estate managers: ease of capital raising and flexibility in underlying assets.
• Family Offices: ensure asset confidentiality & transferability. FlexFunds provides turnkey and customised solutions to asset managers that simplify their clients’ setup and launch of ETPs and corporate administration services. The offerings can address current and future market requirements to support growth plans with regulated or non-regulated programs and white-label capabilities.

FLEXFUNDS SOLUTIONS IN ACTION

FlexFunds’ portfolio of services and solutions has been instrumental in helping various inter- national investors and global asset managers achieve their desired results. Aztlan Equity Management, a boutique asset manager registered with the SEC with over 7 years of experience and a presence in Mexico, Argentina, the United States, and Hong Kong, issued two ETPs with FlexFunds. Their offerings provided Aztlan with mechanisms to manage fund administration with scalable costs and a shallow breakeven point, making them highly efficient tools while providing transparency to clients, allowing them to see the value of their investment from their own brokerage account.

In the world of alternative assets, FlexFunds supported Driftwood Capital, an innovative investment business built on the solid foundation of a trusted name in hospitality. Driftwood Capital’s investment strategies focus on hospitality acquisitions, development, lending, and management, with a portfolio of over 3 billion Hospitality Assets Under Management and over 16,000 properties under supervision. Through the issuance of several FlexFunds ETPs, the company was able to convert its real estate portfolio into a bankable asset, access international investors, and raise over $50 million in just a few months. FlexFunds helped Driftwood Capital raise its AUM in half the time and at half the cost of other alternatives it had tried, such as UCITs or conventional Caribbean and Luxembourg fund structures.

With over $1.5 billion in assets under service and more than 200 clients in America, Asia, and Europe, FlexFunds’ success story has positioned it as a global reference in the setup and management of customised investment vehicles. Supporting the company’s rapid growth is its team of financial services experts with over 30 years of international experience. They are committed to providing high-quality customer-centric services backed by internationally renowned institutions such as the Bank of New York Mellon, Interactive Brokers, Apex, and Bloomberg, among others.