Voltylab is a young independent SAM: it launched in 2015, with the ambition of bringing added value in the international market for structured products. Deputy chairman Filippo Colombo and managing director Bruno Frateschi agree on the values that motivate them and define their company: Honesty, Transparency, Serenity.
After 4 years in operation, how do you see your business?
We both have an investment banking background. We intuitively perceived a real customer need: ‘bespoke’ structured products that are not industrialised and totally controlled.
We decided to build this type of product to meet demand from management companies and some small and medium-sized banks, since we work exclusively in the B2B segment. Our intuition was right and our business is growing. We now have 7 employees.
How do you work?
We are real catalysts between investment banks and our customers. We work with investment banks that actively engage in structured products based in Europe: in London, Paris, Luxembourg, or in Switzerland. But we do not have an exclusive partnership with any bank. We seek the best performing products for our customers. Our close to one billion business volume allows us to optimise our offering and refuse certain transactions.
Do you specialise in any particular type of product?
In highly liquid, relatively short products (one to three years). In a low interest rate environment these products are in high demand from our customers, who are mainly in Monaco and Switzerland. We have a long-term working relationship with all our partners. There are neither minor banks nor minor customers for us. We give them all the same service.
For structured products, IT security is vital. We are ISO27001 certified, an information security standard, which required us to make a great investment.
In addition, we have created a control system: Voltyfeed, a platform dedicated to risk management and product cycle management. With this platform we create the evolution traceability of a product, from issuing bank to end customer. Our customers can connect to it directly using a private access code. They then receive real-time performance analysis and portfolio reporting, and can even run simulations. It took us over two years to create this analytical tool, with which customers benefit from the utmost transparency.
And in the future?
We are entering a quantitative phase: calculation engines that will give managers even more results. This justifies the name we have chosen all the more: we are a construction and analytical laboratory for products where volatility plays a major role. VOLTYLAB!
