About Us
About Para Bellum Advisors
Strategic Firepower. Trusted Execution
Para Bellum Advisors is a specialist financial markets advisory focused on derivatives, structuring, and capital efficiency.
We work with lean investment teams managing complex portfolios, long-dated assets, and real governance constraints. Our role is simple: remove structural drag, rebuild inefficient frameworks, and help capital work harder.
No products. No distribution agenda. Just independent advice grounded in real execution experience.
Our Philosophy
Si vis pacem, para bellum
“If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Markets do not fail politely. Stress arrives without notice, liquidity disappears, and weak structures are exposed fast.
Para Bellum exists to make sure our clients are prepared before that happens.
Our name reflects how we think about portfolios, risk, and decision-making. Resilience is not built during a crisis. It is engineered well before one.
We help clients design structures that hold up under pressure and still perform when conditions normalise.
What We Do
We advise on markets and derivatives where complexity, scale, and execution discipline materially affect outcomes.
Our work typically sits across:
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FX, rates, credit, equity and volatility hedging
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Portfolio overlays and capital efficiency
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Derivatives structuring and trade architecture
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Execution strategy and governance alignment
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Trading and risk infrastructure design
This is not academic advice. Everything we deliver is designed to be executed, defended, and explained under scrutiny.
Our Mission
To deliver independent, execution-ready markets advisory that helps institutions navigate complexity, optimise capital, and build durable advantage
How We Work
We operate as a true specialist partner, not a generalist consultant.
Independent
No product pushing. No conflicted incentives. Advice is driven by outcomes, not distribution.
Hands-on
We stay close to the trades, the structures, and the decision points.
Pragmatic
We design solutions that fit real balance sheets, committees, and risk frameworks.
Discreet
We work on sensitive mandates and treat client information accordingly.
founder
Mike Duncan
Founder and Head of Advisory
Mike Duncan is a markets practitioner with over 30 years of experience across trading, structuring, risk, and portfolio management.
He has held senior roles at global banks, insurers, and investment firms, working directly on complex derivatives, hedging programmes, and balance sheet optimisation across the Asia-Pacific region.
At Para Bellum Advisors, Mike brings a rare combination of structurer, trader, and portfolio-level perspective. He focuses on fixing what is structurally broken, rebuilding hedge frameworks, and freeing trapped capital.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Otago, postgraduate degrees in Applied Finance and Business Administration from Macquarie University, and a FlexiMasters in Financial Technology from Nanyang Technological University. He has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School.
Based in Singapore, he works directly with clients across Asia-Pacific on every mandate.
Why Para Bellum Advisors
Specialist expertise. Real-world impact.
Para Bellum Advisors exists for clients who need more than high-level advice.
We bring:
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Deep specialist focus in derivatives and structuring
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Frontline execution experience, not theory
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Flexible engagement models that fit lean teams
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Discretion, independence, and accountability
Most portfolios do not underperform because of bad ideas.
They underperform because of structural drag and poor execution.
That is what we fix.
If you are carrying complexity, leverage, or long-dated risk, this work matters.