Mark Askew

Welcome

Valorem provides advisory and consultancy services to create value for clients by combining market-leading attention to detail with innovative solutions to avoid or overcome the challenges that inevitably arise during investment cycles.

Originally a commercial banker focussed on Legal/Credit risk and problem loan turnaround, in 1994 Valorem’s principal, Mark Askew, moved to Capital Markets and the identification, analysis/research, sourcing, investment in and management of diverse investments in high-yield, stressed and distressed debt instruments to generate equity-type returns from restructuring & turnaround scenarios, and from the exploitation of pricing anomalies in international debt and equity markets.

We help clients create value from new investments, defend and recover value in investments that have become impaired and to assess complex financial structures. We offer specialist support in relation to legacy or impaired assets and also restructuring/turnaround advisory to management and stakeholders of impaired businesses.

A few highlights…

Special Opportunities Investor / Head of Distressed Debt Desk for 20+ yrs, preceded by 10+ yrs’ Banking Risk, Legal, and Problem Loan Recovery.

Executive Director of FSA-Regulated Investment Adviser to Private Equity and Alternative Asset funds investing in Turkey.

Chaired the Investment Monitoring Committee of the Isle of Man Government’s £50m Enterprise Development Scheme providing investment into IoM-based businesses.

Advised IoM Treasury in relation to its £124m acquisition of the IOM Steam Packet Co.

Special Opportunities Investing

Mark’s skill-base encompasses in-depth credit & equity analysis, corporate banking, private equity, venture capital, M&A, risk management, legal, turnaround and cross-border insolvency experience, and the application of those skills to generate value from Distressed Debt instruments in market-based and ‘off-the-radar-screen’ situations, commonly via good businesses with bad balance sheets, but also in liquidation scenarios.

Our investment experience includes bank loans, bonds, convertibles, other public and private debt securities, structured products, CDS/LCDS, preference shares, trade claims and liquidation claims as well as strategic change of equity control via debt-for-equity swaps under financial restructurings.

This expertise provides additional competence to compliment a client’s existing investment management skills and infrastructure. We can assist with investment scenarios that require a pro-active and intensive approach, particularly where financial restructurings and complex negotiations with other stakeholders (debt, trade, management and equity) are involved that require high levels of self-motivation and a creative/innovative approach to resolving problems.

Risk Management & Advisory

Valorem offers a professional and high quality engagement for diverse advisory and consultancy services across Banking, Risk Management and Markets (including Funds), and to Service Providers in those sectors. These include individual asset or portfolios reviews as well as identifying and managing the execution of turnaround or exit strategies for legacy, impaired and/or illiquid assets.