Entrepreneurial fixed income specialist poses fierce challenge to bulge-bracket complacency

HONG KONG - Tuesday, October 21st 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SC Lowy, an independent fixed-income specialist with full investment bank capabilities, announced that today it celebrates five years of great success and robust growth in trading and investment banking. With trading volumes at US$5.4bn in 2014, it has become a market leader in secondary loan trading in Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, a top-ten Asian high-yield bond trader, and a successful entrant into DCM, with an expanding presence in Europe.

“We have proved that a committed group of financial leaders can smash the barriers to entry presented by the bulge-bracket banks,” says co-founder and CEO Michel Löwy.

“We see our strength as a bellwether alternative to the status quo in the fixed income market,” he adds, “and a signal that underserved companies need a better type of investment banking capability.”

SC Lowy’s founders exited top investment banking positions to found the company in 2009, amid the worst months of the Global Financial Crisis. Löwy partnered with Soo Cheon Lee, his colleague at Deutsche Bank and Cargill for almost 15 years, and the two set out to provide a fixed income alternative in a changing market.

“We had a lot of naysayers when we first set up this business in 2009,” recalls Löwy.

“In this tight-knit market we knew it would be tough to succeed where others had failed. Ultimately, by sticking to our principles and our instincts, leveraging our strong balance sheet responsibly and intelligently, and pouring unprecedented resources into bottom-up independent research, we proved that a needed exception can thrive.

“Creating this company was, no question, the best decision in my professional life. But our work has just begun.”

In its fifth year, SC Lowy has intensified its global reach, with the award-winning Korea Line Debtor-In-Possession (DIP) financing and the acquisition of Shinmin Mutual Savings Bank, becoming one of the few foreign businesses to be granted a banking licence in Korea.

SC Lowy is replicating its Asian success in Europe with the expansion of its London office, with full research capability. As part of the firm's growth strategy, Partner and Head of Sourcing David Beckett, is relocating to London this week, further demonstrating its commitment to the European market. In September, Global Finance magazine named SC Lowy as Best DCM provider for its Stars of China 2014 awards.

About SC Lowy

SC Lowy is an independent fixed income specialist with full investment bank capabilities. Its strong balance sheet empowers it as a major market-maker and enables it to provide liquidity options while acting as principal in transactions.

Private and employee-owned, it operates three distinct businesses - Primary Issuance, Secondary Trading and Advisory, focusing on loans, bonds, trade claims and special situations.

Its strong research capability covers energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, telecom & media, metals & mining, financials, shipping and real estate.

Headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in London, New York, Seoul and Sydney, SC Lowy has built a top-tier global client network of over 500 international and regional banks, asset managers, hedge funds, private equity and pension funds, family offices and corporations.

For more information, visit www.sclowy.com and the Company LinkedIn page http://lnkd.in/sclowy.

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Contacts
For SC Lowy
Brad Smolar, 852-3405-1300
brad@smolar.com

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