LINKFACTOR TRADE RECEIVABLES EUR 1 FT

Rating Action and Rationale

EthiFinance Ratings affirms the rating of the Notes issued by the Fund in “A+”.

The quantitative analysis shows the structure has strong resilience to defaults, nevertheless, the rating has been capped by the Insurance Company’s credit rating, as it provides the main credit enhancement to the Fund and, therefore, represents a significant counterparty risk for the Fund. The Fund’s rating has also been impacted by the counterparty risk arising from both the Assignor and the Servicer.  

Executive Summary

Linkfactor Trade Receivables EUR 1, FT (the "FT" or the "Fund"), is a Special Purpose Vehicle established under Spanish law in December 2022, opened by its assets and liabilities. The Fund issues promissory notes under the Promissory Notes Program, the current rating only supports a maximum outstanding nominal amount of 250 MM€. The collateral consists of Credit Rights assigned to the Fund by Linkfactor Pymes, S.L. (hereinafter “Linkfactor Pymes” or the “Assignor”). The Credit Rights assigned to the Fund originate from the Assignor’s clients, who are also the Indirect Debtors of the Credit Rights, as all Credit Rights have recourse against them, and are related to their commercial activities or services delivered to the Direct Debtors. The Fund’s Maturity Date is December 15, 2029, and legal maturity date is December 15, 2031. 

From the last review, the main difference was the change in the servicer, now the Credit Rights are serviced by Circulantis (hereinafter “Circulantis” or the “Servicer”).

Fundamentals

• Gedesco Finance, S.A.U. has been substituted as the Servicer by Circulantis, S.L. This change also comes with reduction to the scope the Servicer provides both to the Fund and to the Assigner. The services provided by the new Servicer’s are mainly limited to reporting and verification tasks, but it is also responsible of processing the claims with the insurance company. The tasks that are no longer in the scope of the services provided by the Servicer are now performed by the Assignor. 
• The Credit Rights are insured by Euler Hermes. The Insurance Policy covers 90% of the face value of the Credit Rights and has a minimum Limit of Indemnity (LOI) of 35,28MM€. The policy holder is the Assignor, but the Fund is the beneficiary and, therefore, all payments made by the Insurance Company are made directly to the Fund’s Treasury Account. It is the Servicer’s responsibility to verify that all the Credit Rights are covered by the Insurance Policy before they are purchased by the Fund. 
• At the end of December 2023, the Fund had a portfolio of Credit Rights with a total face value of 8.203.607€.  These Credit Rights are distributed in 31 Indirect Debtors and 33 Direct Debtors. Since the end of February 2023, the monthly-average cumulative face value of the Credit Rights in the Fund’s portfolio has been 5,1MM€. The monthly-average nominal value of the issued Promissory Notes, in the same period, has been 6,4MM€.
• The Fund has shown to have an adequate spread between the interest generated by its assets and the implicit interest paid by the Fund to the Promissory Notes. At the end of December 2023, the Fund’s assets had a WA annual interest rate of 92,3%, considering that the Credit Rights are purchased at discount by the Fund at a minimum 10,0%, on the other hand the issued Promissory Notes paid an annual WA rate of 6,8%. This spread has shown to be sufficient even during the months when the Fund had a low amount of its assets invested in Credit Rights.  
• The approach to the quantitative analysis of the transaction has changed as a consequence of the change of servicer. For the initial rating, EthiFinance Ratings considered in its analysis the historical performance of the loan portfolio originated by Gedesco Finance, as Gedesco Finance performed the risk assessment and approval process of the Credit Rights assigned to the Fund based on their methodology. As Gedesco Finance no longer plays a role in this transaction and the Assignor does not have a relevant historical origination, EthiFinance Ratings has changed its approach to the quantitative analysis, analyzing now the probability of default of the main debtors in the portfolio, resulting in adequate levels in line with the transaction´s rating.
• The Fund has concentration limits for debtors. This criterion restricts the total outstanding balance of a Debtor to 15% of the LOI and establishes a maximum concentration of the top five debtors. As one Debtor’s Credit Rights can be related to one or more Clients, this restriction is also a way of limiting the exposure of the Clients to the Debtor, further limiting the overall risk of the transaction. On the contrary, the Fund does not have a sector concentration limit, which exposes it to sector risk.
• Operational risk is present given that the Assignor has been recently created. Linkfactor Pymes has a limited track-record, however although this period has been short, it has shown an adequate performance in terms of origination and collection processes.
• Commingling risk has been partially mitigated by an Account Pledge Agreement. The Assignor has pledged the balance of the bank account in which it receives all payments of the Credit Rights in favor of the Fund. Furthermore, the balance of this account must be transferred to the Fund’s treasury account on a daily basis. This risk has not been completely mitigated as the Assignor retains full control over this account and, therefore, the Fund is completely dependent on the Assignor actions.

Sensitivity analysis

Factors that could (individually or collectively) impact the rating.

• Positive factors (↑).

An upgrade of the credit rating of the Insurance Company, provided that conditions of the Insurance Policy remain the same. An improvement in the probability of default of the portfolio debtors, in addition with a longer track record of the Assignor.

• Negative factors (↓).

The downgrade of the credit rating of the Insurance Company, provided that the conditions of the Insurance Policy remain the same. A reduction of the LOI while maintaining the maximum promissory notes issuance in 250MM€. A deterioration in the performance of the assigned credit rights.

Description of the Transaction

Participants

Operation Diagram

Description of the Insurance Company

The insurance company is Euler Hermes France which is part of the Euler Hermes Group, which in turn is part of Allianz Group. During September 2023 EthiFinance Ratings assigned to Allianz Group the rating of “AA-” with stable outlook.

The rating is based on Allianz's leading position in global insurance business and asset management, high diversification in terms of segments, lines of business and geographies, brand strength, and diversity and control of distribution channels. This is complemented by solid and stable operating performance, with strong capitalization, moderate indebtedness, and good liquidity management. However, the rating is constrained by a high exposure to assets susceptible to deterioration from further market downturns when compared to comparables, a high historical dependence on L/H investment results, and macroeconomic risks from claims inflation and slower economic development.

Description of the Credit Insurance Policy

The credit insurance policy (the “Policy”) has a 2 year-term, expiring 31 October 2025, and has a LOI of 80x the minimum premium, the LOI at the end of December 2023 is 35,28 MM€. The Policy insures 90% of the nominal value of the insured credit rights, which is sufficient to cover the Fund’s exposure, as the Fund will pay a maximum price of 90% of the nominal value of the credit right.

It is important to note that the policyholder is Linkfactor Pymes S.L. but the beneficiary is the Fund and, therefore, the indemnity is paid directly to the Fund, mitigating the risk of commingling.

Description of the Servicer

Circulantis, established in Valencia, Spain, in 2014, operates as a crowdfunding platform designed to facilitate access to alternative financing for SMEs. It enables businesses to access financing from retail investors by selling to them promissory notes and invoices at a discount. In addition to their main business, Circulantis is the servicer in this transaction, the main activities performed by Circulantis to the Fund are to ensure that all the Credit Rights are covered by the Insurance Policy, and the reconciliation of credits and debits of the different accounts, amongst others.