Content sponsored by Ocorian

James Maitland, regional head of Americas, Bermuda & Caribbean, and global head of capital market services at Ocorian, spoke to SCI about how resilience is benefiting the industry and his firm

With the traditional office environment disappearing almost overnight and widespread personal restrictions, we have seen a smooth transition and incredible resilience both within our own firm and across the broader market. From remote working arrangements supported by video conferencing tools and our proprietary infrastructure, we have personified the power of collaboration, ownership and technology; our staff have tirelessly supported our clients, accessing our systems securely and efficiently throughout the pandemic without disruption.

Such resilience has also allowed the market to continue operating in relative normalcy, underlining that any areas of slowdown were due to market conditions, not operational restrictions or deficiencies. The industry’s contingency planning suggests that material lessons have been learnt from past market crises and events.

In conjunction with the strength of market infrastructure, the industry has benefited from regulatory support and a pragmatic approach from the authorities. For example, the move to electronic filings from physical presentations has generally been accommodated quickly and smoothly.

Having lived through the financial crisis, the investor community has become more sophisticated and experienced with navigating unchartered waters; to date there appears to be a collective sense of calmness and perspective in their approach to the Covid-19 shock. Instead of panic, there has been a recognition of the unprecedented nature of the situation, with many adapting strategic focus/priorities to capitalise on unique opportunities the current conditions have precipitated. Market participants are poised to act and deploy their strategies as soon as conditions stabilise.

Clients are not only strengthening their existing investment strategies, but many are also hunting distressed opportunity plays, including in the real estate and transportation sectors. The funds space continues to be active, while a number of CLO managers are extending warehouse periods to tap the market at the optimal time.

In terms of documentation, we are seeing more bespoke requests to help facilitate the collection and integration of information, as well as its disbursement.

The collective challenge presented by Covid-19 has triggered a strong level of partnership and coordination among market participants to maintain market logistics. We continue to work with clients, intermediaries and infrastructure/regulatory partners as we navigate the next phase of the pandemic and the adoption of the “new normal”. As a global leader of fiduciary and administrative services, we are both privileged and proud to support our clients and the broader marketplace as we all adapt to the “new normal”. 

About Ocorian
Ocorian is a global leader in corporate and fiduciary services, fund administration and capital markets. Our global network is designed to put us exactly where our clients need us to maximise the potential of their business and investments and we operate across the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and UAE. The firm has 17,000 structures under administration, representing US$260bn of assets. Our approach is personal, professional and flexible. We take the time to understand our clients' ambitions and work with them to deliver expert, customised, scalable solutions. We provide local solutions on a direct or a distributed supplier basis, depending on the needs of our clients. Our offering is unique in terms of our breadth of capabilities across capital markets, funds and the private client space, from unsecured corporate issuance to structured finance.