New fund aims to boost small business access to trade finance

In line with its century-old mission to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere, ICC has joined forces with TradeFlow Capital Management to address a key impediment to the involvement of SMEs in international trade.

SMEs are the largest employers and economic contributors of both developed and developing economies. The inability to access trade finance solutions, represented by the growing finance gap, substantially affects over 130 million SMEs worldwide. By joining forces, ICC and TradeFlow Capital Management intend to unlock new financing opportunities for the global SME community and ensure small businesses trading bulk commodities can access international markets to grow and thrive.

Building on TradeFlow Capital Management’s proven investment methodology and proprietary digital solution, the ICC SME TradeFlow Fund will use a non-credit, non-lending model to support SME physical commodity import-export transactions. The Fund will take direct ownership of the commodities during shipment or during a pre-agreed storage period with a view to offer investors a practical solution that could be considered low risk, low default, and a diversified asset class. The ICC SME TradeFlow Fund also seeks to provide SMEs and small traders with the technical tools to more effectively manage their transactions. This will not only help support existing trade but also create new trade opportunities for businesses that have been historically locked out of international markets. 

As ICC and TradeFlow Capital Management work to create the ICC SME TradeFlow Fund, ICC is looking to build a coalition of partners within the investor community interested in tackling the global SME finance gap and supporting ICC’s mission.

Speaking at the ICC Future Trade Forum last week, ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO said:

The global business community desperately needs new and impactful solutions that can materially address the growing trade finance gap, which disproportionately affects small- and medium-sized businesses. The ICC SME TradeFlow Fund can help unlock liquidity for SMEs in the commodities sector by providing an innovative and compelling solution to a broad array of investors

Please contact Charly Gordon, ICC Global Policy Lead, to learn more about the opportunities associated with the ICC SME TradeFlow Fund.