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ASPIRE DIRECT CREDIT FUND
ASPIRE DIRECT CREDIT FUND
ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Contents
02 FACT SHEET
03 GENERAL
06 GETTING STARTED
09 INVESTING
15 FEES & TAXES
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TYPICAL BORROWER’S PROFILE
Private Limited or Limited Liability Partnerships —incorporated in Singapore or Thailand- Creditworthy directors with > 30% shareholding- Average Ticket Size: USD$19,250 - Average Tenor: 19 weeks- Industry: Diversified Aspire utilises more than 500 data points and proprietary machine learning technology to predict potential defaults.
- Our Approval Rate: 12% - Our Historical Default Rate: <3% (repayments were >120 —days due)
Aspire Capital is one of the leading fintech players in Southeast Asia, providing working capital loans to SMEs.
AspireInvest is Aspires dedicated investment platform for institutional investors, family offices, high net worth individuals and accredited investors.
INTRODUCTION TO ASPIRE CAPITAL
1. Direct Investment - Bypassing traditional financial institutions, we connect investors directly with businesses looking to borrow. Resulting in high returns and low fees.
2. Portfolio Diversification - Low correlation with other asset classes and opportunity to build a diversified portfolio in various industries across Southeast Asia.
3. Regular & Stable Yield - Private debt offers attractive fixed income over government and corporate bonds, with expected returns of up to 15% p.a.
INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Aspire Financial Technologies Pte. Ltd. 251 Little Falls Drive
Wilmington, New Castle County Delaware 19808-1674 USA [email protected] aspireinvest.org
CONTACT INFORMATION
1. Register online at aspireinvest.org
2. Required documents for KYC - Proof of identification - Proof of address - Complete customer due diligence
3. Make a minimum deposit of US$25,000 into Aspire’s —Custodian Trustee bank account and you are ready to —make your first investment.
GETTING STARTED
(MODERATE PORTFOLIO)HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE
FUND FACTS
Creating an Account
Deposit of funds
Withdrawals of funds
Performance Fee
Currency Conversion
Minimum Deposit
Custodian Trustee
Legal Counsel
Fund Administration
No Charge
No Charge
No Charge
20% on performance achieved
Spot Rate
US$25,000 for Individual Investors. US$100,000 for Corporate Investors
Watiga Trust
Maples & Calder
Aspire Capital Ltd
Management Fee 2% of net asset value, charged quarterly
We offer a selection of 3 investment plans. Criteria of portfolio plans are based on:
- Product Type: Unsecured Loans or Invoice Financing - Geography: Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, -— with more countries planned in 2019 - SMEs Risk Grade (A, B, C, D, E)
Our portfolio plans:
1. Conservative – Up to 10% p.a. — Graded A to C 2. Moderate – Up to 12.5% p.a. — Graded B to D 3. Standard – Up to 15% p.a. — Graded C to E
Investors may build multiple plans and allocate their capital accordingly.
Rates shown are annual projected returns, after fees, bad debts, and withholding tax. Projections utilise a default rate of 5% (our historical is 1.6%). Investors are responsible for their individual tax obligations. Your actual return
INVESTMENT SELECTION
MONTHLY RETURNS (%)
CUMULATIVE RETURNS (%)
ANNUALIZED RETURNS (%)
MAR 2018
APR 2018
MAY 2018
JUN 2018
JUL 2018
AUG 2018
SEP 2018
0.9
0.9
1.6
1.3
2.5
3.0
3.3
0.9
1.8
3.3
4.6
7.2
10.2
13.5
3.5
5.3
8.0
9.3
12,3
15.3
18.1
OCT 2018 3.8 17.3 23.1
NOV 2018 3.8 21.1 28.2
ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General
What is Aspire’s Direct Credit Fund?
The Aspire Direct Credit Fund is the world’s first direct investment fund that connects investors directly with businesses looking to borrow. The Aspire Direct Credit Fund invests exclusively in loans originated through Aspire Capital’s direct lending platforms, bypassing traditional financial institutions, resulting in higher returns and lower fees for investors.
To investors, The Aspire Direct Credit Fund offers an asset class that is convenient, competitive, and with a low-lock in period.
Aspire Capital is the fastest and simplest way for small businesses to get funding. By bringing together industry leading risk management and cutting edge technology, Aspire Capital enables businesses to access finance in a matter of days. It has changed the way small businesses access finance, disrupting the traditional model of banking.
Headquartered in Singapore and backed by leading venture capital firms and private investor, Aspire Capital enables small businesses to grow and thrive. Aspire is the trade name of Aspire Financial Technologies Pte. Ltd. and Aspire Capital Ltd, both companies a fully owned subsidiary of Aspire Financial Technologies Holdings Inc., a Delaware (US) Corporation.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How does Aspire invest?
The Aspire Direct Credit Fund invests exclusively in loans originated through Aspire Capital’s direct lending platforms.
Combining rigorous credit assessment with the latest tech, Aspire Capital uses proprietary risk algorithms and deep learning iterative models to assess loan disbursement as a first layer.
We then spread your investment across industry and geography, meaning your investment is automatically diversified.
South East Asia is the fastest growing region in the world, where GDP is growing at 6% YoY. 95% of GDP is driven by its 78 Million Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), of which 50% have no access to credit. Having first launched in Singapore in 2018, Aspire Capital is well-positioned to tap the underserved Micro-Cap debt opportunity in SouthEast Asia. The company currently operates in Singapore and Thailand, and will begin operations in Indonesia Q2 2019.
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Philippines SMEs: 10,000kVietnam
SMEs: 13,000k
Thailand SMEs: 14,000k
Malaysia SMEs: 4,800k
Indonesia
Singapore SMEs: 200k
Sources include SME Finance Forum, McKinsey Global Institute Analysis
78M Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South East Asia
More than 50% have no access to credit
SEA GDP is growing 6 % Yo Y, f a s t e s t growing region in the world. More than 95% of GDP driven by SMEs
ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is this a P2P lending platform?
No. The Aspire Direct Credit Fund is a fund that reaps the advantages of the seamless integration of our technology-driven investment and direct lending platforms.
We are thus able to offer 3 simple and diversified portfolios for investors to select from, and our sole performance fee model aligns us with our investors.
In a P2P environment, you are entering into a loan agreement directly with borrowers, with a financial intermediary facilitating the transaction.
How is Aspire aligned with investors?
Unlike any other platform, keeps its Aspire skin in the game by directly underwriting a pro-rata portion of every loan.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Getting Started
How do I sign up?
You can “Register” for an account on our website invest.aspire-cap.com.
We will take 1 - 2 working days to process your registration, after which you can transfer your investment funds to our Custodian Trustee’s account. You can expect your investment to start being deployed in around 6 working days from the time you first sign
As our appointed Custodian Trustee, Watiga Trust, will be carrying out due diligence checks on counterparties that we conduct business with, we kindly request that you provide them with the information and documentation as per their requirements on a timely basis.
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*investment will be deployed on an availability basis based on matching loan and investor’s portfolio preference
ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does Aspire accept International Investors?
Yes.
What is the minimum amount I can invest?
Our minimum investment amount is US$25,000 for Individual Investors, and US$100,000 for Corporate Investors.
In what currency do you accept investments?
We accept any currency and will convert it to USD at the spot rate to make your investment. Investments are then executed in USD.
Will there be any foreign exchange fluctuations?
Yes. Please note that all foreign exchange risk will be borne by investors and as such, the principal you invest and the principal you get back may vastly differ due to changes in the foreign exchange rate.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do I make a deposit?
Upon approval of your account, you can find our Custodian Trustee’s USD bank account details in your Dashboard and transfer the money there.
Upon receipt of your money in our SGD bank account, we will disburse your money as soon as we locate and approve a suitable borrower.
Why is my money going into a Custodian Trustee and not directly to your company?
By having the money held by a Trust, this ensures that your money is safe and going to the borrowers as the Custodian Trustee will always act in your best interest. As such, this prevents the misuse of funds by Aspire.
This also ensures that your money will still be safe in the unlikely event that Aspire shuts its operations, as the Trust company holds the money and will return it to you.
How often can my investments be withdrawn?
The loan terms offered to borrowers are between 1 - 6 months, with the historical average at 4 months. Your deployed investments can be withdrawn upon repayment by the borrower. You can not withdraw any amount that has not been repaid. You can withdraw non-deployed funds at any time.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Investing
What is your typical borrower’s profile?
Our typical borrowers are Private Limited or Limited Liability Partnerships incorporated in Singapore or Thailand, with creditworthy local directors that hold more than 30% shareholding.
How will Aspire be allocating my investments?
We run all loan applicants through our proprietary risk model to make a decision on their creditworthiness. Due to our rigorous risk assessment process, only 12% of applicants are approved. When a loan is approved, it gets assigned a risk grade. If the loan falls within your portfolio criteria and our system selection criteria, we allocate a portion of your investment into that loan. This ensures your investment is sufficiently diversified.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What happens when a loan defaults?
While a loan default may result in lower returns, our diversified portfolios tend to mitigate the risk of negative returns by spreading your investment over a large number of loans. Our projections account for a 5% default rate by our borrowers (our historical default rate is presently at <3%), though we cannot guarantee that the default rate will not rise in the future. As always, your actual return may be higher or lower and your capital is at risk.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How did you derive your projected returns?
We derived our projected returns after including our 20% performance fee, and account for a 5% default rate by our borrowers. At present our historical default rate is <3%, but we cannot guarantee that the default rate will not rise in the future. As always, your actual return may be higher or lower and your capital is at risk
Which portfolio should I choose?
We offer 3 different portfolios, each catered to different risk appetites.
The Standard portfolio constitutes borrowers including riskier exposures (namely various grades of C, D and E) and will give the highest returns, but with a higher credit risk associated.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The moderate portfolio contains borrowers with average credit risk ratings (namely various grades of B, C and D) and will give an average return in exchange for a slightly lower risk than Standard.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The conservative portfolio consists of borrowers with the safest risk grades (namely various grades of A, B and C) and will provide the lowest returns, but with a limited risk exposure.
We recommend that you choose the portfolio that best suits your risk preference.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I invest in multiple portfolios?
Yes, you can create multiple portfolios to invest in if you wish to. This could further diversify your investment.
How do I diversify my portfolio?
All our portfolio plans are designed to be diversified. We disburse your money to as many different types of borrowers as possible so you are not concentrated on a single firm, industry or geography.
Please note that this is limited by the number of borrowers that are eligible to be selected within your portfolio preference.
You may therefore select to create multiple portfolio plans if you would like to further diversify your investments.
Can I reinvest my returns within the same portfolio?
Yes, you can reinvest your returns within the same portfolio by choosing our “AutoInvest” option when you make your investment. Otherwise, your returns will be kept as cash in your portfolio until you choose to withdraw it.
Can I invest additional money into the same portfolio?
No, you will not be able to deposit additional amounts into the same portfolio. You can always create a new portfolio if you would like to add additional funds.
Are my returns guaranteed?
No. Your actual return may be higher or lower and your capital is at risk. All the projected returns are based on historical data and past performance is no guarantee of future results. There is no assurance that such events or targets will be achieved and thus, outcomes may vary. The information presented, including statements concerning financial market trends, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Fees & Taxes
What is your fee structure?
To cover overhead, we charge a 2% management fee calculated as the quarterly average of each investor’s net asset value. We also charge a 20% performance fee on any excess returns you may have earned on your portfolio. There are no account opening, deposit, withdrawal, or processing fees.
Do I have to pay taxes on my returns?
The Aspire Direct Credit Fund is registered under the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Since Cayman Islands does not impose any withholding taxes, as such your return will be gross of any income taxes. Nevertheless your returns are still subject to your country of tax residence. We strongly recommend that you consult an independent tax advisor to get a better understanding of your tax obligations.
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ASPIREINVESTOR GUIDE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Disclaimer
The information and materials contained in this brochure are provided "As is", "As Available", strictly for
information purposes only and should not be considered an offer, or solicitation, to deal in the Aspire Direct
Credit Fund. The information contained herein is as of 1 December 2018. Aspire Financial Technologies
Holdings, Inc. (“Aspire”) reserves the right to make any amendments to the information and materials
contained in this brochure, at any time, and assumes no obligation to update the information herein.
Investments in any of the funds are not deposits in, obligations of, or guaranteed or insured by Aspire, and
are subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Past
performance or any prediction, projection or forecast is not indicative of future or likely performance.
Any opinion or views made are not necessarily indicative of future or likely performance of the funds. Some
of the information on this website may contain projections or other forward looking statements regarding
future events or future financial performance of countries, markets or companies. These statements are only
predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. Any opinion or estimate contained in this
brochure is made on a general basis and is not to be relied on by the reader as professional advice.
Any research or analysis contained or used in this brochure has been procured for Aspire own use and may
have been acted on for its own purpose. The reader must make his/her own assessment of the relevance,
accuracy and adequacy of the information contained in this website and make such independent
investigations as he/she may consider necessary or appropriate for the purpose of such assessment.
Before making any investment decisions, prospective investors should seek advice from a financial adviser
as to whether the relevant fund is suitable for him, or consider carefully if the fund is suitable for him, before
deciding whether to invest.
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251 Little Falls Drive Wilmington, New Castle County Delaware 19808-1674 USA [email protected]
ASPIRE FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS INC.
aspireinvest.org
