Federated Hermes makes play into wholesale investor market

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

10 February 2026

Federated Hermes has expanded into the Australian wholesale investor market for the first time through the launch of its Global Trade Finance Fund, widening access to an asset class typically reserved for institutional investors.

The fund is a feeder that invests in an AUD-denominated share class of the Federated Hermes Project and Trade Finance Master Fund, which is designed as a “distinctive uncorrelated income strategy offering the potential for low volatility of return, with negligible interest rate and short credit duration risks”.

The feeder fund provides Australian wholesale investors with access to the trade finance asset class that has been offered by the active manager to global institutional investors for more than 15 years, delivering diversification benefits due to its “limited reliance on traditional return drivers, while providing quarterly liquidity”.

Chris McGinley, Head of Trade Finance at Federated Hermes, manages the fund with support from portfolio managers Maarten Offeringa and Kazaur Rahman.

“The defensive power of trade finance during periods of public market turbulence is well recognised by our institutional clients, who value its diversification benefits,” McGinley said.

“Federated Hermes Trade Finance strategy, now accessible to a wider range of investors in Australia, invests across a broad spectrum of loan types, sectors, and regions, aiming to deliver risk-adjusted returns for investors.”

According to Federated Hermes, large international banks have traditionally dominated the trade finance landscape. The new fund allows investors to access this asset class via a co-investing opportunity with the banks to provide “relatively short-term loans used to finance the physical flow of essential goods around the world”. The strategy manages to withstand volatile market conditions due to these goods being “the primary source of collateral within the loan” that “underpin the continued demand for trade finance”.

“This fund launch marks the first step in rolling out a broader investment strategy for wholesale investors in Australia,” Liz White, Associate Director of Business Development, Australia at Federated Hermes, said.

“While Federated Hermes is best known in Australia as a strategic adviser and provider to institutional investors, we are now leaning on our rich wealth management heritage across the United States and Europe to expand into the wholesale segment with a tailored product that historically has been limited to institutional-grade investors.

“This move not only paves the way for future offerings, but also demonstrates our understanding of the specific needs of wholesale investors and commitment to building a stronger presence in the market.”