Co-operation and Competitive Advantage

“It is an honour to be presented with the TMI Award as the best bank globally for SWIFT for Corporates, and we would like to thank our clients for their votes, which validate the ongoing strategic investment we are making to ensure they can access our services through the most appropriate and convenient  channel.“
Brian Wedge, Client Access and SWIFT Product Manager for EMEA, J.P. Morgan Treasury Services

Connecting to multiple banking partners through a single bank-agnostic channel is becoming increasingly popular amongst corporate treasurers. J.P. Morgan has pioneered SWIFT connectivity solutions to meet this need as a complement to its proprietary web-based and host-to-host channels.

J.P. Morgan is particularly well-positioned to support corporates who wish to access their banks via SWIFT’s unique, worldwide network. J.P. Morgan has a successful track record in co-operating with SWIFT and acting as an early adopter of their products. For example, not only is J.P. Morgan one of the banks on the Corporate Access Group which guides SWIFT’s activities with corporates, but it is also very active in the wider SWIFT community; helping guide the development of new products, evolve standards, as well as participating in governance of the cooperative. As part of this role, J.P. Morgan has been proactive in promoting greater awareness of SWIFT solutions amongst the corporate community, and encouraging greater involvement of corporates in defining and prioritising new services through SWIFT.

A key factor in J.P. Morgan’s success this year is their highly consultative approach. Clients who opt for a SWIFT solution benefit from the expertise that J.P. Morgan has developed over many years in supporting its large base of financial institution customers who have used SWIFT since its inception. Furthermore, J.P. Morgan is able to leverage a worldwide network of technical specialists within its ranks of client service and implementation managers. The implementation process is scientific itself, and rightly so. Once a team is assigned, client onboarding is treated as a formal project, with clear objectives, timelines and assignment of tasks. This mitigates project risk significantly, and ensures that clients achieve their connectivity objectives to schedule and within budget. As part of this process, J.P. Morgan has been able to leverage its close relationship with SWIFT to obtain quick answers to queries and issues.

“Using SWIFT for bank connectivity brings considerable potential for corporates seeking to increase the efficiency of their financial processes, and J.P. Morgan continues to promote and prioritise new capabilities that deliver these benefits. With a variety of new initiatives launched recently, 2011 is set to be a year of growth and dynamism in corporate adoption of SWIFT. We are now in the pilot phase with eBAM (electronic bank account management) which enables accounts to be administered efficiently, and to manage signatories electronically. eBAM represents a major step forward for the SWIFT community as a corporate-led initiative which will also be leveraged by banks for the accounts they hold with other banks. We are also actively involved in 3SKey, the solution for personal electronic signatures, and other new initiatives such as completing trade transactions through SWIFT.” Brian Wedge, Client Access and SWIFT Product Manager for EMEA, J.P. Morgan Treasury Services

The opportunities for SWIFT Corporate Access extend beyond cash management into trade and bank account management. J.P. Morgan will continue to drive the industry forward to ensure that corporates have the broadest possible access to services through SWIFT as well as continuing to invest in its proprietary web-based and host-to-host communication channels.

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A Commitment to Customer Relationships

“It is a privilege for Lloyds Banking Group to be awarded TMI’s award for Corporate Finance. In particular, this award recognises the breadth and depth of financing services we offer, the quality and commitment of our team, and the unique culture that we embrace at Lloyds of long term customer relationships based on transparency and trust.” Mark Grant, Managing Director, Head of Global Financial Institutions, Lloyds Banking Group 

By staying close to clients and understanding their evolving business needs, LBG offers an integrated, holistic solution which delivers to clients the full spectrum of the bank’s capabilities Lloyds combines its unrivalled depth of expertise in sterling products with a strong track record in product innovation to meet client funding needs. From a straightforward overdraft to capital markets funding, Lloyds delivers a comprehensive range of corporate finance and acquisition finance solutions, including international trade, invoice and asset finance to support our customers’ growth:

Debt Capital Markets

Many companies seek funding solutions through the debt capital markets to optimise their capital structures. Our award-winning, multi-product debt capital markets team help provide our corporate and financial institution clients with a range of debt solutions, including arranging, structuring, executing and syndicating transactions. This includes specialist expertise in the sterling and Eurobond markets, US private placements, loan syndication, team securitisation and conduit securitisation.

“Lloyds Banking Group Capital Markets has quickly built up strong expertise and a solid track record in primary issuance, representing some of the largest and most dynamic transactions in the market.” Christoffer Mollenbach, Managing Director & Head of Debt Capital Markets

Equity Capital Markets

Stock market flotation and fund raising through equity issuance can play a key role in enabling many companies to achieve their strategic objectives. Our Equity Capital Markets team originates and executes financing for publicly quoted and privately held customers, and provides strategic advisory services across a wide range of industry sectors. Whether through an initial public offering (IPO) on a recognised stock exchange or through a secondary offering, we help, advise, structure and underwrite equity offerings for our customers. In addition, depending on a company’s particular needs, we can place existing or newly issued shares with a limited number of long-term financial or strategic investors, raising capital by selling partial ownership of the company.

“Lloyds is today a recognised player in the UK equity capital markets and our customers acknowledge our commitment to understanding their businesses and their financing objectives.  As an organisation we strive to deliver complete financing solutions adapted to the specific circumstances of our corporate customers. These solutions are likely to combine more than one product  from the Lloyds broad portfolio of financing tools.” Robert Pierce, Managing Director & Head of Equity Capital Markets

Structured Corporate Finance

Companies looking to finance a takeover, buy strategic assets or arrange a structured loan need to work with product specialists who not only understand their requirements, but who are able to deliver the most appropriate solution, from simple to highly complex. Our Structured Corporate Finance team, which comprises Acquisition Finance, Corporate Asset Finance, Project Finance, Rail Finance, Ship Finance and Aviation Finance, provides specialist services to our clients delivered by individuals with specific financing and industry expertise. Consequently, Lloyds is firmly established as a leader in structured finance. For example, our Acquisition Finance team has supported over 500 transactions over the past five years, while our Rail Capital team is a leader in rail-related transactions with a £1.5bn portfolio (October 2010) and our Ship Finance team has an international portfolio of assets worth over US$16bn gross (October 2010).

“Lloyds’ Structured Finance team combines industry expertise with a broad understanding of our customers’ individual needs so that we can deliver the right solutions, not simply as a one-off transaction but within a long term relationship. We are privileged to have worked with a large number of our customers for many years, and our ability to create the right solutions through different stages of a company’s lifecycle is a significant factor in our ongoing success.”Keith MacDonald, Managing Director & Head of Structured Corporate Finance

Private equity

Established over 30 years ago, leading UK regional mid-market private equity house LDC, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, has a current portfolio of more than 60 businesses valued at over £2bn. The team is experienced in supporting management and institutional buy-outs, and the provision of development capital, equity release, acquisition funding and pre-flotation funding. LDC has a strong reputation for developing excellent working relationships with management teams and advisors alike in order to complete high quality transactions.

Trade and supply chain finance

Success in a global marketplace depends on a number of key factors, including having the right type of financing in place to fund businesses and keep cash moving around the world. We provide a wide range of trade finance services, for both importers and exporters, including supplier, pre- and post-shipment finance, with extensive experience across the world’s most significant new and established markets and business sectors.

Working capital finance

In an environment where working capital is more important than ever, an increasing number of companies are seeking to release cash tied up in invoicing or assets using our working capital finance solutions can help release all important funds to help keep your business moving. For example, our invoice discounting and factoring products enable companies to realise up to 85% or 90% of the value of invoices within 24 hours of raising them. This can help bridge the gap between invoice generation and payment, giving our customers greater financial flexibility. In addition, our asset-based lending solution can help turn capital tied up in debtors, stock, plant and machinery or property into cash. This can be a cost-effective alternative to increase the working capital in a business without slowing growth.

“Despite the specialist nature of many of our services, we recognise the importance of managing relationships across all the activities in which we engage with a client, as opposed to restricting ourselves to individual product silos. By acting together as a team, across the bank, we have a strongly differentiated, seamless offering that recognises risk, reward and mutual benefit, helps our clients achieve their strategic goals and puts the customer at the heart of all that we do” Mark Grant, Managing Director, Head of Global Financial Institutions, Lloyds Banking Group [[[PAGE]]]

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Liquidity management is a core capability within Goldman Sachs and has remained a strategic focus since the inception of the firm’s asset management business. Leadership in cash management dates back to 1981, when the Fixed Income Division acquired management responsibilities for $2bn in two institutional money market portfolios. In 1988, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) was formally established around this small but growing business.

Today, Global Liquidity Management encompasses GSAM’s money market and short-duration fixed income businesses and approximately 35% of GSAM’s total assets under management1. Our liquidity solutions encompass commercial and government securities as well as multicurrency options including US$, GBP, euro, AUD and yen. Reflecting the strength of our capabilities and investing ability, GSAM is one of the top five institutional money market fund managers globally(2).

Kathleen Hughes, Co-head of Global Liquidity Sales commented: “We are delighted to receive the TMI Awards for the Best Money Market Funds in Europe and in North America. We remain committed to our conservative approach, focusing on effectively managing portfolios by seeking to preserve capital and maintain a high degree of liquidity. As we celebrate 30 years of Global Liquidity Management in 2011, with a 15 year anniversary for our offshore business, we believe these awards are testimony to our expertise.”

We aim to meet our clients’ need for preservation of capital, liquidity and competitive yields through: liquidity solutions which we believe are high quality; support in navigating the financial markets and expertise in expanding organisational resources. 

Liquidity Solutions

A strong team and proven investment process

Liquidity solutions at GSAM begin with a mission to provide preservation of capital and daily liquidity. We seek to accomplish this mission through the strength of our portfolio management team and investment process.

GSAM investment professionals, for example, actively participate in numerous industry working groups, providing feedback that helps shape policy and money market industry regulation. “Working with the relevant industry bodies I’ve found that clear, insightful and engaged discussions at the highest level with senior policy makers, can help to shape regulation for the benefit of investors” said Kathleen, an IMMFA Board Member. Senior GSAM professionals have helped shape best practices in risk management, developing risk analysis tools adopted widely by the industry. Our senior portfolio managers offer an average of 14 years’ industry experience and the team has experienced historically low turnover, adding organisational continuity to the advantage of experience.

Our investment process benefits from years of continuous evolution as well as firm wide expertise. Combined inputs from the Goldman, Sachs & Co. Credit Department and GSAM, for example, seek to mitigate risk within our money market portfolios. In addition, weekly meetings between senior Goldman, Sachs & Co. economists and Goldman Sachs Asset Management portfolio management ensure that our strategy across all portfolios is consistent with current economic policy.

Jason Granet, Head of International Global Liquidity Management added “A consistent process which seeks to  add value while preserving capital is critical for any money market strategy. In almost 30 years of global cash management and in all market cycles, Goldman Sachs has consistently delivered preservation of principal with same-day liquidity. We remain dedicated to constructing high-quality portfolios by adhering to strict credit guidelines set forth by the Goldman, Sachs & Co. Credit Department, a separate operating entity within Goldman, Sachs & Co.” 

Active portfolio management by expert sector specialists results in investment solutions that we believe are optimally structured along the yield curve. Rigorous management of credit, interest rate and liquidity risk form the cornerstone of our investment process.

Separate and independent credit analysis

GSAM’s strict adherence to credit quality supports our mission of providing liquidity and the preservation of capital even when the risk environment changes swiftly and unpredictably. In addition, since 1981, we have extended and strengthened our focus on credit quality by leveraging the Goldman, Sachs & Co. Credit Department. This group comprises more than 255 credit professionals, focuses exclusively on credit analysis, and is a separate operating entity from GSAM.  

“Investors choose money market funds to preserve their capital, and that is foremost in our minds when managing credit risk” commented Jason. “We only invest in credits that have been approved by Goldman Sachs & Co.’s Credit Department, which provides a layer of independent and unbiased analysis to every credit strategy we employ.”

The Goldman Sachs Credit Department constructs and maintains GSAM’s Money Market Credit Approved List; communicates daily with GSAM portfolio managers to review potential credit risks, discuss changing credit conditions and gauge liquidity of issues; and reviews and approves all additions, deletions and/or changes to the Approved List. As a result, our clients have a choice of liquidity solutions – with an unbiased credit review process that helps evaluate and manage risk in all environments. 

 Support in navigating the financial markets  

In addition to liquidity solutions which we believe are high quality, institutional investors who select GSAM as their liquidity manager gain access to capabilities from across Goldman, Sachs & Co. In all environments, clients have regular access to our portfolio management team. In addition, ongoing perspectives on the global economy, regulatory and industry change and liquidity management strategies support informed investment decisions.

Expertise in expanding organisational resources

GSAM’s Global Liquidity Services team engages with your organisation on every level, expanding your internal resources through highly tailored service, product, operational and trading support. In addition, the Goldman Sachs Global Liquidity Services Portal delivers investing simplicity, operational efficiency and expert resources to address clients’ need for trading, reporting and liquidity insights. Goldman Sachs Money Market Funds, select Goldman Sachs Equity and Fixed Income Funds, and money market funds from leading external providers are available to different investors (if suitable and/or appropriate for the organisation). A majority of the top 20 money market complexes are accessible through the Goldman Sachs Global Liquidity Services Portal, representing 87% market share3. Through the Global Liquidity Services Portal, clients can manage multiple liquidity investments on one screen and gain increased confidence and control through a single access point.    

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J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the investment management arm of JPMorgan Chase, offers a range of comprehensive global short-term and medium-term investment solutions, from AAA-rated liquidity funds to short-term fixed income products. A combination of these products can assist our clients to achieve the liquidity, security, risk and return profile they desire. 

Travis Spence, Head of Global Liquidity Asia for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said “We are honoured to be recognised for the third year running by TMI readers as the Leading Provider of Money Market Funds in Asia, especially during this period of the global financial crisis. Like our clients in the region, we have a long-term commitment to Asia. After launching our first domestic AAA-rated money market fund in China in 2005, we have continued to develop local currency solutions in markets that matter most to our clients. Liquidity in the region continues to grow and companies operating in Asia are placing a greater emphasis on holding and investing domestic currencies, so we believe our business is well aligned. In 2010, we extended our range of Asian money market funds from RMB, JPY and SGD to AUD when we launched our Australian dollar  money market fund in October. We can further leverage our domestic experience to create tailored short-term investment portfolios as an alternative beyond money market funds.”

By entrusting your liquidity investments with J.P. Morgan Asset Management you can be sure that you are investing with a market leader. We are one of the world’s largest providers of AAA-rated international liquidity funds, managing over US$163bn on behalf of more than 2,000 institutional liquidity clients.* This scale gives us strong purchasing power and creates exceptional levels of liquidity and diversification within our liquidity funds, which are available in USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, RMB and AUD.** 

In the wake of the financial crisis, global interest rates are at all time lows and balance sheet cash levels are inflated, causing treasurers around the globe to search for optimal risk adjusted cash investment solutions. Volatilities remain, and market insight is critical. We work with clients every day to determine the most appropriate investment portfolios for both working capital and for more predictable cash reserves.

    

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