We started in 1979 as a foreign exchange consultancy for Dutch importers and exporters. After the Bretton Woods era in the 1970s, when fixed exchange rates were indirectly linked to the US dollar, floating exchange rates led to many headaches in business ...
ICC's founder Eddy Markus was trained in financial markets and international asset management at the time. He saw that companies could benefit greatly from currency options (then an entirely new phenomenon) to hedge their risks, and began advising them on them. Born into an entrepreneurial family (his father is one of the co-founders of Maple Leaf, the chewing gum factory in Amsterdam, known for the Sportlife brand, among others), he quickly saw a market for a specialised consulting firm in this field and started International Currency Consultants (ICC).
Below you can read how ICC continued to grow. Consulting needs in business are greater now than ever before. Achieving financing without a debt advisor almost always leads to a time-consuming and frustrating process, and in interest and currency matters, banks are pushing towards execution-only. Across the board, we see that companies are keen to exchange ideas with an experienced advisor who is truly on their side and does not derive revenue from product sales or transactions.
Our team
History
In the first 20 years of its existence, ICC developed into the currency advisor of choice to importing and exporting companies in the Netherlands. Despite the fact that the majority of clients were buyers and sellers of dollars and pounds even then, the arrival of the euro was not initially positive for ICC. However, it also created a great opportunity. Until then, interest rate hedging was strictly the domain of large pension funds and multinationals, but now medium and large companies could also enter into interest rate swaps. Banks are beginning to actively sell interest rate swaps, and there is a sharply increasing need for independent advice on the best hedging strategy and the timing of swaps. During this period, ICC rapidly expands its services to include interest rate advice and ICC is now an established name in this field within Europe.
For each interest rate recommendation, the underlying financing documentation is carefully reviewed. We quickly notice that financing terms are disadvantageous for many of our clients. For example, ratios and conditions are not appropriate or set too tightly, and pricing can often be improved. ICC decides to expand its team with experienced credit specialists, including former bankers who are eager to transition out of banking. Indeed, at ICC, they can really put their knowledge and experience to full use for the client. They are literally no longer sat opposite the client at the table in exploratory talks and negotiations, but right next to them. This combination of independent debt advisory and interest rate advice really does lead to greater flexibility and substantially lower interest costs.
Following the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent ultra-loose central bank monetary policy, there is little need for interest rate advice. Money is virtually free and no one expects interest rate increases. Currency fluctuations are also relatively limited. Around the world, central banks are pursuing stimulative policies and it is only in the event of opposing or diverging policies that you see larger currency fluctuations. 2016 sees us expanding our consulting services to include the area of commodities. Experienced commodity specialist Robert Marneffe joins our team. There is a great need for (bank-) independent advice in determining a sound risk management strategy and in concluding commodity hedges. ICC clients can now turn to ICC for advice on all financial market risks.
The world has totally changed. Central banks have been hiking interest rates at record speed in an attempt to curb high inflation, and global geopolitical tensions are very high. Banks are struggling with the sheer volume of regulation dumped on them - not just on compliance, but also on their core business. European legislation places severe restrictions on lending, and due to the high fines and repair costs of the interest rate swap debacle, they are moving towards 'execution-only', offering little advice and running as little risk as possible. However, companies need to discuss their financing options and hedging strategy. ICC ensures that they don't get stuck here and can keep their focus on successful business transactions.
Our areas of expertise
Debt & Capital
As an independent debt advisor, ICC has decades of experience and an extensive track record with both family and private equity-owned businesses. We focus on the entire right side of the balance sheet and achieve the capital structure that best supports your business strategy, against the best possible financing conditions. ICC specialises in assisting mid-market companies with a total financing portfolio exceeding EUR 10 million.
Interest rate risk
ICC has many decades of experience as an independent advisor and we assist a wide range of European companies in managing and hedging their interest rate risks in the best possible way: from discussing strategy, benchmarking and improving pricing at your bank(s), to live transaction support. We are never a counterparty to transactions, are paid solely by our clients, and hold an AFM licence (Dutch Authority for Financial Markets) allowing us to advise about interest rate risks. ICC supports weekly derivative transactions (IRS, Cap, Collar, etc.), with notionals ranging from approximately EUR 10 million to EUR 500 million.
Currency risk
Currency movements can have a massive impact on your sales margin, competitive position and bottom line. Together, we will look at how your organisation can be optimally protected against unfavourable price movements and can benefit as far as possible from favourable price movements. Banks and currency brokers derive their income from the transactions you conduct with them; commercial charges are intransparent, and often too high. Moreover, this revenue model leads to transaction-based advice, which is generally not in your best interest. ICC uses a different approach.
Commodity risk
Many companies are affected by volatile fuel, energy and commodity prices. Passing on these additional risks is often difficult in practice. Is this perhaps also an issue in your business and are you wondering how you can better protect your margin and competitive position? As conditions in commodity markets become more extreme, many companies are realising that they do not have sufficient control over cost trends. Also, different departments (risk, procurement, management, sales) are not always on the same page and this can result in an ad hoc policy where you are 'running behind the market'.