
This past Thursday, LFJ hosted a digital conference that featured insights from various institutional investors active in the litigation funding sector. The panel - moderated by Ed Truant (ET) of Slingshot Capital - consisted of Jonathan Rix (JR), Senior Associate at UK-based PE firm Partners Capital, Kendra Corbett (KC), Principal on the Investment team of independent asset manager Cloverlay, and David Demeter (DD), Investment Director of Davidson College's $1Bn endowment fund.
The event also featured a keynote address from Charles Agee, founder of Westfleet Advisors, a litigation funding advisory firm. Charles discussed the key findings of his 2020 Litigation Finance Market Report--the most holistic industry survey on the market.
Below are some key highlights from the event. First, some notable lines from Charles Agee's keynote address:
“Where is Litigation Finance now compared to where it could be, relative to its potential?”
And some key highlights from the panel discussion:
ET: What do you look for in a management team, both in terms of skills and composition?
KC: Origination and claim underwriting expertise, and asset management skills. In the early stages of diligence, we look at how replicable their approach might be in the future, their prior track record. Ideally, a team would have a combination of skills beyond legal expertise, since fund management is very different. Investment management expertise, understanding the likelihood of losing capital.
JR: There’s no one-size-fits-all team. But what we look for are partnership and ethics.
ET: What are some of your more significant insights from investing in this asset class? Both positive and negative.
KC: Not everyone considers the passive nature of funding, that you’re not able to have any control over the litigation itself. We try to find strategies that allow for more active control.
DD: I couldn’t agree more. We need to see structural ways of addressing deployment risk in order to invest. Not all the managers have significant experience. Many firms that started in the last few years have people who come out of commercial litigation and not from a finance background. It’s important to build trust with institutional investors.
ET: Charles touched on transparency and its importance from an investor’s perspective, and the lack of standardization. Would you echo that?
DD: I haven’t had a lot of issues with that. I do see reports where gross returns are emphasized and net returns are a footnote. That’s just unacceptable. The transparency we’re asking for isn’t hard. What I’d like to see is a willingness to share public information, public filings, and judgments. It’s already out there, there’s no reason not to give it to investors.
JR.: There’s definitely a lack of standardization in the industry.
ET: How are your deployment rates in your current portfolio? What advice do you have in terms of increasing deployment?
KC: Deployment rates have lagged. As far as the impact on net returns, we try to find innovative ways to structure cases to meet minimum return budgets.
JR.: In terms of advice I’d give—sizing the fund is important. If your goal is quality and effective deployment rather than quantity...ultimately your business depends on investment performance. As a manager, you can be creative. You may find more interesting capital solutions that allow you to, maybe, overcommit the fund. Managers should be flexible in terms of fees on committed capital.
ET: What’s your advice to first time managers with respect to fundraising?
JR.: Fundraising is always a tough gig. Choose partners very carefully, because litigation funding is nuanced and complicated. You make your life harder by partnering with people who don’t understand those complexities.
Characteristics | Loan | Consumer Legal Funding |
Personal repayment obligation | YES | NO |
Monthly or periodic payments | YES | NO |
Risk of collection, garnishment, bankruptcy. | YES | NO |