How has the Nordic Trustee UK platform evolved and grown in the last two years?
Anatoly Sorin, Nordic Trustee: Our strategy was to drive home that although we were a new name in the UK, the firm has a huge amount of experience, had become an Ocorian company, and strives to mirror our success in the Nordics and in Germany. Two years after we started in the UK, we had a thriving loan agency desk, which continues to be our main product line. We launched the bond offering last year, which has been a huge success as well. We have also seen strong demand from Luxembourg and Ireland, because a lot of issuance there comes with an SPV attached to it. Critically, we continue to be in the game for replacement roles — trustee replacement and agent replacement roles. When banks want to step out, we are very happy to step in and help lenders go through their chosen process.
How does the combination of Ocorian and Nordic Trustee capabilities allow the firm to deliver tailored solutions for clients?
Combining Nordic Trustee’s trust and agency expertise with the multitude of offerings from our parent, Ocorian, has been one of the highlights of these last two years. I have come to compare the task of putting together structures to playing Lego — what could be more Nordic? — but really these are intricate constructions that provide bespoke solutions for our clients.
For example, we work closely with our Luxembourg and Irish colleagues on SPV services. We can now offer an end-to-end solution: the SPV, the bond issuance and the full administration. This has been extremely popular, and it is very rare for an independent provider to be able to issue bonds. Another area where we differentiate ourselves is onboarding. The banking sector can be much more complex and time-consuming in terms of how it onboards clients. For us, once our SPV colleagues have onboarded the client, we onboard the SPV and knowing our colleagues do their job properly. There is no back and forth, just a streamlined onboarding process and certainty of execution.
How are client expectations changing when it comes to execution, flexibility and service provision in structured finance?
We are now involved much earlier in the process. Clients do not come to us at the very end and say: “We just need this from you.” Instead, they come to us in the beginning and say: “Our investors need this, can you help us provide it?” The bespoke nature of the work continues to evolve and deepen, because our clients’ investors react to market conditions. They may want to transition out of one sector and into a new product line. Perhaps they cannot go into it directly, but they can do so through an SPV, and we will help them structure that. We are starting to operate almost like a consultant for our clients. We can identify which solution to a given problem will work and outline how it works. They appreciate that guidance, because they can then go back to their investors with a clear idea of the options and the cost.
Which areas of the structured finance and ABS market are generating the strongest demand for Nordic Trustee?
One of the big highlights for us has been SRTs, where we have a level of expertise that is rare among service providers. Our end-to-end solution gives clients the SPV, bond or loan administration, cash management and other services. SRTs are quite streamlined in some ways, but each one comes with its own quirks. We are very happy to provide all those services on demand. We continue to be very optimistic about that market and our ability to service it with bespoke solutions.
How do you think the role and perception of independent service providers is changing?
It is really interesting to see how the banking world is retreating from several activities and becoming more risk averse. That is not a criticism of the banks — it is simply a reflection of the world we are in. But one result is that a lot of interesting bespoke solutions are now being developed outside the banking sector. That makes the job much more interesting, because we are constantly thinking about how to create solutions for clients. In this environment, every day we are finding another area of expertise within the Ocorian network, and another specialist who is very strong at what they do. For me, the priority is to close the perception gap. Independent providers are not always seen in the same premium category as the banks, but the reality is that firms like Ocorian and Nordic Trustee are delivering highly sophisticated premium solutions. Showing the market what we are actually able to do is very important to us.
You can contact Anatoly at Anatoly.Sorin@nordictrustee.com