Maritime Investment & Management
Ship Investment
Leveraging on our vast experience in the structured finance business offering finance arrangement services for ships, we have since branched out into direct investment in shipping assets. Based on our strong background in transportation financing industry, we have established a wide network in the shipping industry that enables us to be both the investor and fund manager through our investment platform. Our vessel investments are focused on handysize bulk carrier, containership, and products tanker.
Our investment type is classified as i) investment in private ship investment fund, ii) co-investment with other investors, iii) investment in vessels through Uni-Asia Shipping Limited ("Uni-Asia Shipping"). In the case of (i) and (ii), where our investment interest is not in a majority, our investment not only generates investment returns but also creates other business opportunities, such as finance arrangement, brokerage of vessels, and asset management/administration service for the funds/co-investment. We started ship-owning by taking a majority interest through Uni-Asia Shipping, in order to enhance our stable income source.
i) Investment in private ship investment fund
We established the Akebono private ship investment fund with other sponsors in April 2007, taking advantage of the Approved Shipping Investment Enterprises status granted by Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore under the Maritime Finance Incentive ("MFI") scheme. As a part of this arrangement, Uni-Asia Capital (Singapore) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, was granted the status of Approved Shipping Investment Manager under the MFI scheme, and acts as the ship investment manager. The Akebono Fund owns six vessels including three containerships, two product tankers and one handysize bulk carrier which are all at sea now.
ii) Co-investment with other investors
Under our co-investment arrangement, we invest in the vessel owning company together with a few other investors to share the risk and reward. Our investment portion is typically not more than 50%. As at 31 Dec 2010, we have co-invested in five vessels with other investors.
iii) Investment in vessels through Uni-Asia Shipping
We have opportunities to enjoy competitive purchase price of new builds and second hand ships with bulk market being depressed since 2009. We established Uni-Asia Shipping in April 2010 and has since acquired two new builds in 2010 and one new build in January 2011. In March 2011 we acquired four-year old second hand small handy bulker at a competitive price, which was nearly half of the peak price in 2007.
Management of Ship Investment
The asset management and administration fee from the management of ship investments is one of the core recurrent incomes for the Company. With regard to the Akebono Fund, Uni-Asia Capital (Singapore) Limited acts as the ship investment manager and provides management and administration services to investors. Other than Akebono Fund, the Company provides management and administration service for co-investments.
Structured Finance Arrangement
Our forte lies in the arrangement of ship financing where we have vast experience and an established track record. On top of our ship investment capabilities, we have in-house ship structures finance and other value-add services that we offer to both internal and external clients. The services we offer range from loan arrangements (syndications) for ship acquisition, brokerage services for purchasing and / or disposal of ships to charter arrangements. Over the year, we have chalked up a good track record in providing such services to our clients, both internal and external. We have developed a good reputation in the industry and we take pride in our capability to provide the most optimal customized solutions to meet our clients' needs.
Integrated Shipping Service Provider Strategy
Our original strategy has been to increase our asset management portfolio investing with other investors, which are in the form of co-investment or private ship investment fund. However, to cope with weak investors' appetite while securing the good investment opportunities, we have added ship investment with a majority or wholly-owned interest, as mentioned earlier. With the addition of this enhanced ship owning business, we can be an integrated shipping service provider including i) ship investment fund management, ii) ship finance arrangement, iii) ship management service, and iv) ship broking service.