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by Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London:

It’s definitely part of the alternatives arena and its structure is the classic hedge fund master feeder structure with a 2 and 20 fee arrangement but as Bob Press, founder and chief executive officer of Trafalgar Capital Advisors is the first to admit, his fund does not fit the normal boxes.

"We are a merchant bank, offering senior secured lender services to small and medium sized enterprises" explains Press. And its success in that narrow niche, structured as a fund, has allowed it to return between 10 and 12% a year since its launch in 2004. The firm’s origins lies when Press had an investment banking firm in the late 1990s when there was a credit crunch and a bit of a recession. "Small to medium sized firms needed capital and there weren’t a whole lot of places for them to go" Press says.

"There is a part of a food chain from a small start up to revenue producing and you can get lost in the capital shuffle" he explains. Banks want the listing fees for a new company but after that it can be hard to get capital to grow. "We tried to get them financing to get them to the next level and we morphed into a merchant bank business."

The success of this business led to Press being offered the opportunity of setting up his own fund, Trafalgar Capital Advisors, in 2004. The fund offers short duration financing and advisory services to small companies in the UK, Europe and the US and has offices in London and the US.

An ex......................

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