Transforming the delivery of Professional Services Worldwide | Zain Ali
December 21, 2024
CEO & Founder
After almost 20 years running a property development firm, due to the 2008 financial crisis—the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression— José Manuel had to search for financing options for his business in the international market to keep his firm afloat.
Despite having met numerous solution providers and trying to get capital to stay afloat, the situation only worsened with no solution at sight resulting in the company’s closure. José Manuel lost his company worth €16M. Still, he was sure that he would re-emerge, and he will offer his expertise and network gained from this international experience to other business owners.
As in every crisis, the best opportunities tend to surface. José spotted the opportunity to use his experience of going broke and start a new venture that now has 12 years and counting with presence all around the globe.
INVERSUS was initially set up in Spain in February 2010. However, in 2018 the company was relocated to the UK under the name of INVERSUS CAPITAL LIMITED.
Since then, INVERSUS CAPITAL LIMITED, in collaboration with Banking Institutions and Investment Funds, has developed ALTERNATIVE FINANCE’s capability based on the collateralization of debt using publicly traded financial instruments, which allows mid-cap corporations, as well as start-ups, access to banking credit facilities to support their projects.
INVERSUS offers, among others, the following:
Becoming A Mentor
José’s excellent relationship with their investment clients who support their proposals alongside their funds, INVERSUS can participate in start-up ventures taking a hands-on approach. In recent times they have backed a Hearing Aid company, and in these two years, the results surpass any expectations. Also, they have supported an audio-visual project of a young female content creator that will be exported to the USA.
“During my career, I had the opportunity of managing diverse and multidisciplinary teams, and I have learned to be a better person, colleague, and leader every day,” says José. “In our industry, we say: “a company without values is a company on route to failure.”
Our 3 fundamental pillars:
Building a Company
INVERSUS is part of the financial sector, one of the most competitive. Hence, José bases his strategy on establishing alliances with the competitors rather than entering into commercial battles.
According to José, what the clients demand from a company like INVERSUS is the finance they cannot get from their bank. “We are not here to compete against banks. However, we are here to provide our client´s Banks with the right solution for the bank to release the funding needed by our shared client. We are the linking bridge between the bank and the client that unlocks a successful transaction,” explains José. “Our job impacts directly in the firm´s financial space. Normally in SME enterprises, the business owner is also the CFO. However, they tend to put more efforts into the commercial side rather than the financial side of the business.”
Some of them get surprised when they analyze their financial expenses due to not dedicating the required attention. Options such as SALE AND LEASEBACK, FINANCIAL LEASE, LOMBARD CREDIT, and One Year STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT rather than monthly ones allow a better perspective on how to finance the firm´s future growth.
In an instance, a European-based client imports garden furniture from China. The client regularly buys 3 or 4 times per month, and the total monthly value is circa $1.5M. Each transaction requires the buyer to ask its local bank for a Letter of Credit at Sight to guarantee the payment to the seller. The bank will normally charge over the client´s funds as security to cover the payment, as noted in the Letter of Credit at Sight. The bank will normally charge a fee between 0.5 – 1.25 percent of the Letter of Credit at Sight face´s value.
In addition, the average delivery time from purchase to the reception of goods is between 1 and 3 months. This means the buyer has its cash funds blocked during the timeframe between purchase and reception of goods and then uses such funds to pay for the order. INVERSUS’s STANDBY LETTER OF CREDIT allows the clients to give its client the required guarantee, but the funds are not blocked. This means funds are available for other business or investment opportunities.
Financial cost using their Bank:
$1.500.000 x 12 months = $18.000.000 with an average interest rate cost of 0.90% = $162.000 as financial cost plus their funds are blocked during this period.
INVERSUS financial cost: $1.500.000 (Valid for 1 year) x 9% = $135.000 allowing the client to use its funds.
Towards the Future
The biggest achievement, according to José, is the INVERSUS executive team. The team working with José hand-in-hand and taking it to great heights and believed in this venture and José with great determination.
“I would like to make a special mention to Mr. Michele La Porta (NETWORK EXECUTIVE MANAGER), Mr. Jaime Amoedo Lucas (Managing Director INVERSUS CAPITAL ISLE OF MAN), our UK Legal Director Mr. Luis Trujillo (ASTER & TRUJILLO) and to our Consulting Director, Mr. Antonio Diaz Martinez. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of them for their personal and professional support,” says José. “Who can adapt to change, can dominate them without suffering. Inversus leaves behind the “traditional” business approach and welcomes an innovative dynamic new way for this sector, focusing its growth in process improvement and flexibility.”
In a fast-paced, changing world, the only way to not fall behind is by maintaining a flexible, with its knowledge completely up to date, and motivated workforce. “Motivation in the broad term not limited to salary and career progression opportunities. I meant, love for what we do and not see the time to start,” explains the steadfast leader. “This is what we are creating in INVERSUS, a motivated and dynamic work environment. We have established a professional career growth path based on attainable, clear, and specific objectives. Also, we have established a system of economic remuneration and career progression linked exclusively to achieving such objectives.”
All INVERSUS employees and external agents have a clear notion of what they need to do to continue their career progression. This nurtures a meritocracy and motivational work environment, providing the right field for friendly competition among the firm´s workforce. This has been an important and positive change, new of its kind for companies in this sector. This has allowed the company to grow faster than their industry competitors using a more traditional approach to work.
One of INVERSUS’s main objectives for 2022—benefiting mainly our Spanish and Italian-based clients—is signing a memorandum of collaboration with two major banks in Spain and Italy. “Such agreement will support credit lines for the bank´s clients using our credit collaterals. We are currently closing the final terms, and once the agreements are signed, we will make public the names of such institutions via our usual channels.”
“We are not here to compete against banks. However, we are here to provide our client´s Banks with the right solution for the bank to release the funding needed by our shared client.”
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