SecFin Solutions
Global markets veteran Glenn Handley speaks to Carmella Haswell about his new consultancy firm which promises to deliver solutions for institutions engaging in securities finance and lending, repo and treasury
With more than three decades of experience within financial services, global markets veteran Glenn Handley has entered into a new venture through the launch of management consultancy firm, SecFin Solutions. Leading the company, Handley seeks to deliver strategies that navigate and capitalise upon the evolving securities finance landscape, ensuring businesses are always one step ahead.
Harnessing his expertise in all financing functions within banks, such as markets treasury, asset, liability and capital management (ALCM), global banking and related areas, Handley will provide advice and solutions for securities finance and lending, repo, treasury, as well as asset and liability management.
As a front office trader of 33 years, Handley has held a number of senior positions across three international banks, including Dresdner Bank (now Commerzbank) and Barclays. Most recently, he served as global head of G10 rates cash financing solutions, and head of repo and cash financing solutions EMEA at HSBC Global Banking and Markets.
During his career, Handley built large financing and interest rates trading businesses from scratch. He has also managed risk and trading and sales teams, as well as working alongside regulators and central banks.
Speaking to SFT, Handley says: “I set up SecFin Solutions to help clients to navigate their way around securities financing and to increase profits. My three decades on a trading desk at investment banks makes me uniquely qualified to provide services to others that need new skills or to refine their skills.”
A trusted advisor
Located in London, the new consultancy firm will provide a number of services from management strategy, regulation and market reform, to revenue growth and revenue protection, and expert witness services. The firm aims to navigate clients through fluctuating markets, shifting infrastructures and emerging trends, ensuring their enterprise not only adapts but thrives amid change.
According to Handley, clients are looking for a trusted advisor and critical friend. It is important to find a consultancy firm that is independent from the business and is able to review a client’s company without any preconceptions.
“If clients have been in their firms for a long time, they may not understand how other financial institutions approach things or what a different infrastructure looks like,” Handley explains. “It can be quite reassuring to have someone come in from the outside, who has experience with several different types of firms, different types of collateral, with central banks and regulators.”
He observes that although investment banks often have a good level of experience using consulting firms, this may be a new concept for buy-side firms such as insurance companies, corporate treasuries and pension funds, when it comes to securities financing strategy. However, with the market and infrastructure changing so rapidly, Handley believes it “makes sense for [buy-side firms] to engage with a specialist who has experience in managing these changes”.
Market participants, and especially banks, have been forced to adjust to the impact of a wide range of regulatory changes since the global financial crisis of 2008-09, including Basel III, which has provided alterations to how banks handle liquidity, capital and leverage. Handley says: “When it comes to complying with these new financial market regulations, using the services of a consultant could be a new thing, but the services I offer are extremely relevant to a new audience and are critical to success.”
Handley indicates that to elevate a business it is imperative to understand the regulatory environment, changes in technology and the opportunities and threats that it brings, as well as understanding the market landscape and infrastructure, and how trades settle.
Industry movements
Noting his experience through a number of crises and interest rate cycles, Handley recalls a large shift in industry approaches to finite resource management, a move from developed markets to emerging markets, and a focus away from low returning G10 rates to become more “asset class agnostic”.
In terms of finite resource management, Handley says there were far fewer constraints on banks in the 1990s, which meant that banks defined their own risk appetite and managed accordingly. He has seen a large change in this through various global financial crises and all of the resulting regulation that followed.
Building on this point, he explains that a number of asset classes, that were previously relatively illiquid, have now become more tradable, such as Mexico, South Africa and Thailand government bonds. New parts of the world are also opening up in the securities finance space, such as mainland Africa and emerging markets in Latin America and in Asia.
Reflecting on the rise in interest rates in G10 economies, Handley indicates that firms are prioritising “capital efficiency and managing their total securities inventory, and ensuring that firms finance their positions as cheaply and efficiently as possible”. For example, this was often facilitated via collateral upgrade or downgrade trades. More broadly, firms are merging fixed income and equity finance to create integrated securities finance desks.
Handley says: “I have a lot to offer clients who are looking at the new regulations, how the market is changing and how it will affect them. I take a very practical point of view so that clients can maximise profit and reduce costs. I can also help banks, hedge funds and other institutions upgrade and refine their strategy, focus and look at new markets, asset classes and relationships.”
“I help institutions to look at their current business model and to shape it and optimise it for the future,” Handley explains. “Having a medium to longer term strategy is critical in the current environment.”
In this respect, Handley suggests firms keep an eye on changes related to reduced risk-weighted assets (RWA) allocation from banks and how they will structure the business. There may well be a move towards off-balance sheet solutions, as well as adoption of guaranteed and committed repo, he adds.
Handley concludes that with an increasing number of people also looking at distributed ledger technology (DLT) and working on solutions for this, “it is a very exciting time to be in securities financing”.
