Majority-owned by PhillipCapital — the financial group founded by veteran financier Lim Hua Min and parent company of Phillip Securities — IFS is moving deliberately but decisively. Its licensed fund management arm, IFS Asset Management, is targeting $50 million in commitments for the fund from family offices, high-net-worth individuals and institutional partners, according to Sim.
When Randy Sim became CEO of IFS Capital in July 2020, he inherited a more than three-decade-old financial services group with firm roots in trade finance and factoring but little visibility beyond its clientele of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). With the Covid pandemic raging, steadying the ship was front and centre for the ex-Citibanker, rather than chasing capital inflows or pushing out new financial products.
The cautious rebuilding has since given way to quiet reinvention. Building on its expertise in financing SMEs overlooked by mainstream banks, IFS launched its second private credit fund in July this year. For investors, the fund is a straightforward way to participate in SME lending, with loans backed by real assets and methodical underwriting rather than financial engineering.
