The Australian operation of specialist banking and asset manager group Investec Bank (Australia) Limited (Investec) has entered the aircraft leasing business with the launch of the Investec Global Aircraft Fund (Fund). The diversified Fund will seek to tap into forecast strong long-term global growth in commercial travel, and thereby generate consistent returns for investors.

Investec have retained the services of the International Bureau of Aviation (IBA) as the Technical Asset Manager for the Fund. The founder and executive chairman of IBA, Laurie Hatcher, has a long working relationship with Investec and believes the Fund is well-positioned to participate in the aircraft leasing market.

Importantly, the Fund’s investment decisions are managed by an investment committee comprising a majority of independent executives with significant experience in aircraft leasing, airlines and the general aviation industry.

Investec’s chief executive Brian Schwartz said today that while the bank has considerable global experience in aircraft financing, the Global Aircraft Fund represents its first institutional offering, and diversifies away from its traditional funds management asset classes, such as property and private equity.

Sydney-based head of Capital Markets, José de Nobrega, said the Investec Global Aircraft Fund has significant implications.

“The Fund capitalises on the Investec group’s global franchise in aircraft finance and leasing and offers investors – both institutions and clients – the opportunity to participate in transactions generated by this core expertise,” Mr de Nobrega said.

The Fund will be managed by senior Investec executives including London-based Michael Weiss, who heads Investec’s Aircraft Financing business, and Sydney-based David Phillips who leads the bank’s Australian structured finance division.

Mr Weiss established Investec’s Global Aircraft Finance business five years ago and has been responsible for origination, structuring and management of the group’s risk and credit exposures in the aircraft sector.

Mr Phillips has had significant corporate advisory and capital markets experience, particularly in the structuring of complex domestic and cross-border transactions. He said the creation of an aircraft fund is an obvious extension to Investec’s activities in the aviation sector.

“We have brought together an experienced and well-respected investment and funds management team, supported by the strong technical knowledge of IBA, one of the leading aviation consultancies in the world.”

“It was always our view that institutional investors would be attracted to the asset class and the Investec management structure. In particular, the infrastructure-like characteristics of commercial aircraft leasing and its absolute return style profile are ideal for this type of investor base," he said.

Chief executive of institutional seed investor SERF, Peter Robertson, said a considerable amount of time had been devoted to due diligence on both the asset class and Investec as Fund Manager.

“Together with the calibre of the independent investment committee, we believe the Fund represents an ideal investment for our members and we look forward to working closely with Investec on this and other opportunities,” he said.

While the Fund would rely heavily on Investec for origination of aircraft investments, new assets can also be sourced from third-party originators.