#6 Clément Rudi - AIS Financial Group

The Vestr Securitization Podcast

Are you ready to see how a structured products broker became one of the fastest-growing AMC issuers in Europe!

In this episode, we sit down with Clément Rudi, Director of Securitization Solutions at AIS Financial Group, a firm that began as a specialist distributor of structured products to family offices and asset managers, before adding its own securitization capability in 2021. Clément walks us through how AIS operates SPV vehicles across Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, and Luxembourg, why each jurisdiction serves a distinct client profile, and how their off-balance-sheet architecture eliminates issuer risk. He explains the end-to-end onboarding journey from a first call to an ISIN going live, and where in that process, first-time users consistently underestimate the complexity.

You will also hear insights on:

• The three things every first-time AMC user must understand before signing

• How to choose between Luxembourg, Guernsey, and Cayman setups

• Why operational execution matters just as much as the investment idea

• How regulation and tokenization could shape the next 5+ years

This episode is essential listening for asset managers, family offices, and product developers who want a clear, practitioner-level view of what it takes to build and operate an AMC programme across multiple jurisdictions.

🎧 Listen Now On: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube | Podomatic

🎙️ Transcript:  

Sponsor: 00:01 The Vestr Securitization Podcast with Stefan Wagner. Unlocking investment innovation. Vestr's end-to-end platform enables securitization providers and investment managers to streamline the lifecycle of dynamic investment solutions, ensuring better results for their clients and their operations.

Stefan Wagner: 00:23 Hello and welcome. In this series, we explore the cutting edge of investment innovation. I sit down with leading asset managers who use securitization vehicles to execute their unique investment strategy.

Clément Rudi: 00:35 As the market share of the AMC will expand, the regulation will inevitably tighten. People will be even more comfortable to rely on AMC instead of traditional funds because, regulatory speaking, it's something very sharp, let's say.

Disclaimer: 00:49 The information in this presentation is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation or recommendation to buy or sell any financial products. It is not intended as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified professional regarding your investments.

Stefan Wagner: 01:11 Welcome to the Vesta Securitization Podcast. I'm your host, Stefan Wagner, and I'm really excited today to have a guest, Clément Rudi from AIS Financial Group on it. He's the Director of Securitization Solutions. Welcome, Clément.

Clément Rudi: 01:28 Hello, Stefan. Thank you for having me.

Stefan Wagner: 01:32 Clément you came up through the structured products world before moving into more the securitizations. Both are defined as structured products, but most people often go the other direction. What moment or insight made you realize that securitization, particularly when also the AMC version of that issuance was an interesting business you wanted to be part of?

Clément Rudi: 01:54 So yeah, basically I did the way around. So my background is across various desks between equities, fixed income, FX, derivatives, investment banking. The truth is, is that after a few years when you're on daily on this desk, let's say, it's a lot of a flow business. So the product that starts to feeling pretty similar. Whereas like when I start learning about IMC at core, what I found the beauty of it, it was like within the same product, let's say, you can pull an infinite underlying or investment strategies. So that's what I found interesting, like at least you don't get to use every day doing the same product, let's say, or pricing the same things. Every day you trade the same product, but it can be different on any aspects.

Stefan Wagner: 02:42 Yeah, I would agree with you that the innovation these days is not in the payout anymore. It's auto callables or other thing. It's in the underlying and what you can put into it. No, no. I mean, AIS Financial Group was founded 10 years ago, I would say, as a structured products distributor, sort of more, was a broker serving independent advisors in Latin America and other places. Maybe you can walk us through a little bit of the evolution that led AS to build its own securitization capabilities and rather routing clients through to bank issues or find them the best price at a bank.

Clément Rudi: 03:18 So Alternative Investment Solution was initially founded in 2016, so 10 years ago, and is headquartered in Geneva, in Switzerland. So our core business started as a specialized broker of structural products, and primarily serving family office and asset manager in Latin America. which is why also we open offices in Panama and Nassau. Worth noting that basically our clients are never the end clients. It's always, you know, the assets manager or the family offices that trade this product. So that's the first part of our business. For this business, we distribute around 7 billion a year of studio products to clients across, as I mentioned earlier, like mainly Latin America. and know Europe, Middle East, South Africa and Israel. So then we took the decision, we were like, okay, we have this extensive network of clients. So why just proposing, let's say, structured products, which is, let's say, a few parts of their allocation. on their investments.

So we said, okay, now we graduate, we're going to leverage this network of clients, and we're going to expand the offering. So first, we became an exclusive distributor for selected external funds, such as Nomura in Latin America, where we had the exclusivity to distribute their funds to our clients in Latin America. And then also, we start launching our own proprietary fund through our CKV drive in Luxembourg. And then in 2021, we added the securitization capability with our first vehicle in Guernsey, for which I'm responsible for this business with Bastiste, also that you're familiar with.

And Samir, we are the one that's managing it. So that was the first vehicle in 2021. And now we run three vehicles, one in Guernsey, one in Cayman Islands, and one in Luxembourg. with over 1 billion of assets under management. And also this securitization line has become the fastest growing part of our business. We can see that there is a real interest in our existing clients, but also in other prospects that reach out to us to discuss about this new solution.

Stefan Wagner: 05:36 You issue AMCs through vehicles in Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, and Guernsey. Each jurisdiction carries a different regulatory flavor, often investor perception and operational overhead. Can you help listeners build a mental map? What is the prime use case for each jurisdiction? How do you counsel a client who does not have yet a view on which jurisdiction is probably the best one for his or her business case?

Clément Rudi: 06:03 So all three vehicles, despite being in different jurisdictions, they basically share the same DNA. That is mainly the segregation of all the assets first. But the way we do it is because they are all structured as off-balance sheet vehicles. So you don't have any issue or risk. And then within this vehicle, every set of compartments is segregated. So by doing so, basically, the setup, completely isolates the assets, eliminating the issuer risk or any contingent risk. Because at all levels, everything is segregated.

So then it offers to the investors basically the highest possible level of protection. and in order to guide them to which jurisdiction or to choose it, basically, we don't have like a one, you know, one single or one fit all approach. What we do is like basically for before processing and doing any transaction, we sit down with the clients, we have a call, we discuss about the size, the underlying assets, the strategy. And then according to that, we guide the clients to the best setup, like, like, operationally speaking, and mostly cost wise, which setup is the most I would say for the clients.

Stefan Wagner: 07:19 Is there a certain jurisdiction for example like one is better for crypto another one is better for let's say physical commodities and some other ones maybe better for really active I don't know algo trading strategies. Is there something you can say about that?

Clément Rudi: 07:35 Yeah, I will emphasize on one thing. So for the crypto, since 2021, there is a moratoire in Europe. So basically, if there is direct crypto underlying in the AMC, we have no choice of using Cayman Island. So this is, let's say, the first thing. Then, between Guernsey and Luxembourg, I would say it mainly depends on the size, because as you can imagine, Luxembourg, it remains still like… more costly than Guernsey. I'm fully aware of that. And at the end of the day, as I mentioned, it offers the same level of protection to the investors. So that we may think because Luxembourg is in Europe, etc. that may offer the best protection or anything, but at the end of the day, you will have the exact same protection in Guernsey and in a setup that is way more efficient operationally speaking and mostly cost-wise.

Stefan Wagner: 08:29 So, Clément, maybe you can walk us through a typical AMC from the first conversation to when the ISIN goes live in the market. What are the actual steps? Who are the third parties involved at each stage? And where do most first-time users of AMCs underestimate the complexity of the timeline?

Clément Rudi: 08:47 So, I would say that one key advantage for clients is that we do not employ intermediaries. They reach out to us and we take care of them from the inception, from the initial discussion to the issuance of the products. Regarding the flow, it's pretty straightforward. So we usually start with a call to understand basically what's the project of the client. Also for us to know what will be the size, what will be the underlying assets, in order to know how we will structure it the best way. Then after that, once we establish, let's say, the backbone of the setup, we draft a term sheet that we send to the product, usually a few days after. And then once, let's say, we agree on the details that the clients give us the green light, then on our end, we take care of everything on the operational side.

So basically, using all the counterparts to open everything, registering the product on SICS, the Swiss Exchange, opening, as I said, all the accounts, the paying agents, broker and consumer accounts. Most of the time, on our side, it takes 10 days since we have to go from the clients. In parallel, we onboard the client because since we're like a firmware-regulated entity in the setup, we have to onboard all our clients and perform due diligence. We do it besides the drafting all the documents and starting to have the product live, let's say. And yeah, that's pretty much it.

Stefan Wagner: 10:13 The AMCs that you could issue come all from three different dominations, but they are off balance sheet SPVs specifically for that business setup. How do you explain to potential users of AMC what the difference between the benefit of an SPV segregated and everything else versus an unbalanced sheet issue like a big financial institution, a bank?

Clément Rudi: 10:38 So for me, the main difference and the thing that a client has to take into account is the issuer risk. So if you go with the IMC issued by a bank, well, since the IMC is on the balance sheet, inherently, you have the issuer risk within your product, let's say, whereas if it's an IMC issued through an SPV, everything is issued off balance sheets, so you don't have any risk to the issuer. The second main thing I see and I would say for me that is very important is also the flexibility. If you issue an IMC for a bank, then it's on the balance sheet, so the bank can be very restrictive of the asset you can wrap in this certificate, whereas if you issue it through an SPV, once again, you have a greater flexibility. You can wrap pretty much any underlying into the certificate. You don't have any restrictions, so it gives you greater flexibility. You can wrap classical listable, I would say, underlying, but then you can add private equity, private debt, anything you can really tailor-made to any underlying, which is correlated or not to the markets, but then it gives you greater flexibility.

Stefan Wagner: 11:58 I mean, I couldn't agree more. Particularly, I think I came across one of your products where you basically packaged or securitized Colombian taxi licenses. I don't think an on-balance sheet issue would have been able to hold us on that balance sheet easily, or God knows what the cost of that would have been on there. It's fantastic what you can do. As you know, I'm sold on it as well. You guys use Vestas platform, which connects the AMC issues with the portfolio manager layer, rebalancing all the reporting, all the stuff. But from your seat as an issuer, where do you think is the workflow that still relies heavily on emails and spreadsheets, and where do you think is there still an infrastructure gap in the AMC industry?

Clément Rudi: 12:49 So I think the biggest pain today is the coordination between all the parties that are involved into an AMC. As we mentioned earlier, like when we have the go from the clients, we'll yes with the paying agent, with the broker student, with the administrator, with all the stakeholders in their own to this AMC. So unfortunately, too many of these workflows, they still rely on email, on Excel files, on manual follow ups.

So in practice, this is the most visible in areas like portfolio updates, rebalancing instruction, corporate actions, and the circulation of valuation of all reporting data between the assets manager, the issuer, and all the other providers. So let's say that this industry, thanks to platforms such as Vestr, has improved a lot, but on the back end, there is still a lot of, and maybe too much, of manual processing. To conclude, that is where the industry still has the most to gain in terms of speed, control, and scalability.

Stefan Wagner: 13:51 Next fun bit in our business is regulation. From a regulatory standpoint, there are different regulators depending on where the external asset manager sits, where the vehicle is potentially domiciled, what kind of type of client you're dealing with and then in the end where is the deal booked basically or purchased in which account and which jurisdictions. What do you sort of see there from the regulators but in the EU or UK, happy for you to comment on other ones, around sort of structured nodes, complex products and do you think AMCs are exposed there?

Clément Rudi: 14:33 Yeah, definitely. One thing I would say is that the product we issue, they are structurally spread placements, and by per se, they are only reserved to qualified and sophisticated investors. So this distinction from retail investors offers a lot, let's say, lighter regulatory framework. That being said, the EMC business continues to grow significantly, not only in Europe, but worldwide. we can expect that the regulatory environment will evolve and gradually tighten, which is, in my opinion, a positive development for the investors.

That being said, on our side, which is, I think, something very beneficial and critical, is like within our framework, we have a regulated Swiss entity, ISSA, that is FINMA regulated, that is actively involved in the structuring and every aspect of the AMC business. We can rely on the compliance team, legal team, and at least we can make sure that we are fully aligned with the current and more importantly, as we discussed, the upcoming Swiss or even maybe worldwide regulatory expectations and tighten of the regulation.

Stefan Wagner: 15:48 I agree with you, we can definitely expect more attention of the regulator and it would be good, I think, because at the moment it's quite inconsistent across all of Europe. Switzerland is definitely more and more advanced there. Tokenization of securities is often regular-sided. as a technology that would eventually replace the existing infrastructure that AMC is relying on. What is your view on it? Are you working, for example, on an on-chain issuance capability? When do you think it will operationally be viable? I mean, we have seen issuances done, but there don't seem to be any standout. When you actually dig a little bit deeper, the issues are never that big as what we're currently existing to.

Clément Rudi: 16:41 We do believe that tokenization will be part of the future of the industry. I think it goes in line with what we can see in terms of technological development that we can see, even in the US with the Federal Bank that wants to have different digital currency or tokenization technology, I would say.

So we can see a clear shift in that direction. I think mostly in the US because for now, mostly under the Trump administration, I'd say they are more keen to do so. We know Europe, it's always taking a bit more time, regulatory-wise. Over time, tokenization could become a real alternative of the traditional securitization and certificate infrastructure. But on our side, we think maybe it's more like a five plus year horizon. We are actively monitoring these developments and we are already, since one year, looking at how to integrate the tokenization layer into our offering. At least we already have everything, the infrastructure ready on our end and ready to do so.

Stefan Wagner: 17:51 I mean, I have seen a few ones and they're interesting. Some still, I think, have the challenge also that when you're trying to trade actively inside these AMCs, particularly if it's not on-chain or crypto, then it can become quite expensive, more expensive than a traditional setup of an AMC. If you look out five years, another five years, you think tokenization then will be happening. Where do you see sort of the continued growth hopefully coming from? Is it because more people will use it, continuously using it as an innovative product, more asset class, more geographies, maybe even more investor types? Currently you said it's limited to certain types, but where do you think the world will go for AMCs?

Clément Rudi: 18:41 So looking ahead, I think most of the growth, besides new asset class, but it will mostly come from new jurisdictions, where basically the AMC, that will become the natural substitute of the traditional fund that we can see currently. Also, there will be like an inclusion of new assets and emerging technology, such as tokenization, I think is one of the best examples. And then as the market share of the AMC that will expand, the regulation will inevitably tighten. In our view, that's, as we discussed, is something good for the protection of the investors and also for the healthy development of the industry. At least people will be even more comfortable to rely on AMC instead of traditional funds because they will see that, regulatory speaking, it's something very, very sharp, let's say.

Stefan Wagner: 19:34 I mean, I see definitely new jurisdictions becoming much more comfortable with the AMC vehicle. I can only echo that one. Now, for listeners who have now heard how great this product is, what AIS can do, but have never done it, but series considering to launch or to use the AMC vehicle for the first time, They have a strategy, they have a few investors, but they never have done the security before. What are sort of the top three things you wish every first-time user understood before they signed an engagement letter with any issuer basically?

Clément Rudi: 20:17 I would say that first and maybe the most important is that an AMC is not a fund. Even if from an investor perspective, it can look a little bit similar, but as a security, but the back end is still pretty different. So that's something for me, it's maybe the most important thing. That's also something we really emphasize on when we have a first goal with a client.

Secondly, I would say it's a product placement project for qualified investors. So that's something we have to emphasize as well because sometimes clients don't think about, okay, my clients, they are retail, they will be able to subscribe to the product. No, it's for qualified investors. So it can create some hurdles. And third, I would say that the success of the project is not only about the investment idea. but it also depends on the operational side. So that's why also we have to make sure that from the beginning, we understand properly the project to make sure that we offer the best setup for the clients to be able to operate the most efficiently.

Stefan Wagner: 21:26 Maybe if it's okay with you, I would like to ask you a couple bit more personal questions. There's so much more information out there. AI helps you to make sense of some of it, but what is sort of your way how you consume your information diet and how do you make use of this and how do you filter out what is actually useful for you and whatnot?

Clément Rudi: 21:52 As you correctly mentioned and as we discussed before the podcast, the information can be very quick and everybody has access to information. Then the most important part now is how to filter the information and how to use it properly. Okay, what we see with AI currently is important. But finally, what is more important is to anticipate the broader societal change that these tools will trigger.

Stefan Wagner: 22:25 Learning. Oh, that's the next question I haven't sensed. What is the best finance book you have read?

Clément Rudi: 22:33 One I particularly like, I read The Psychology of Money from Morgan Hussle. And it was particularly interesting because we all have a finance background. What was interesting with this book is that basically all financial decisions are basically driven by human behavior, emotions, and different incentives and many things that are more like a psychological aspect than basically that rely on real technical or mathematical aspects, I would say.

Stefan Wagner: 23:02 Yeah, I have read the book as well. It was quite insightful for me as well. Last question. If people would like to reach out, or you or the team at AIS, what is the best way of getting in contact with you?

Clément Rudi: 23:17 I would say first, you have our website, www.aisfg.com. And then if any clients want to reach out to us directly, to the team responsible for AMC, we have a generic email address, securitization, with a Z, at aisfg.com. So any question or any insight that anybody would need. I'm always happy, like today, to discuss about AMC and basically all the benefits they can offer.

Stefan Wagner: 23:50 Great. Fantastic. Thank you, Clément.

Clément Rudi: 23:52 Thanks to you for having me. It was always a pleasure to sit down and talk with you.