Surfing the Cycles: The Ship as Derivative

by Bridget Hogan

Ride the ups and downs of the shipping world rather than suffer the cycles of the industry. This is the message from a London-based financier who is trying to attract new investors into the industry. Michael Hampton is with CEDEF Finance Ltd., which specialises in finding financing in ways which conventional banking is so far not pursuing.

He is trying to put into practice the obvious: that if you can ride the cycles and make the right move at the right time, then you can reap the rewards. He wants the “bandwagon” element of shipping to be at least elevated if not eliminated so that new investors using new tools can be attracted in.

From plush offices overlooking the throng on the main thoroughfare of Piccadilly, he says he is a committed man – committed that is, to finding a way out of the problems which seem institutionalised in shipping finance. He wants to apply to shipping a type of investment tool developed in the oil industry. When working in financing in the oil industry, Hampton was involved in setting up similar systems. Now established there, he seeks to introduce investors used to this system in other areas to shipping.

This is only an excerpt of Surfing the Cycles: The Ship as Derivative

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