ABOUT
Para Bellum Advisors
Independent Financial Markets, Treasury & Derivatives Advisory
Para Bellum Advisors is an independent financial markets advisory firm specialising in derivatives, structuring, risk management and capital efficiency.
The practice works with institutions and corporate treasuries managing portfolios, balance sheets, hedging requirements and governance challenges.
No products. No distribution agenda.
PHILOSOPHY
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM
“If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Most derivative programmes are not designed. They accumulate. Built from bank suggestions, legacy templates and decisions made under time pressure by people who had other things to worry about. The result is a programme that looks hedged on paper but behaves differently when it matters.
THE PROBLEMS ARE RARELY EXOTIC
THE EXECUTION PROBLEMS ARE REAL
Policies nobody has read. Hedges rolled at month end. CSA terms that create extra cost. Execution choices that produce a worse price when better execution was available.
Each issue is manageable in isolation. Left unattended, they compound into something that is expensive, difficult, and disruptive to fix.
Para Bellum exists to solve that before markets expose it.
Resilience is not built during a crisis. It is engineered well before one, through programmes that are correctly designed from inception, regularly stress-tested against market conditions and built to perform across the full lifecycle, not just on day one.
That is the work. Most of it happens in normal markets, not during stress events.
WHAT PARA BELLUM DOES
DESIGNING BETTER. EXECUTING PROPERLY.
Para Bellum advises across financial markets, derivatives and treasury, from straightforward hedging requirements through to complex transactions and portfolio challenges.
Work typically spans:
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FX, Rates, Credit, Equity and Volatility hedging
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Portfolio design, overlays and capital efficiency
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Derivatives structuring and trade architecture
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Trade execution strategy and governance alignment
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Trading and risk infrastructure design
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Funding and financing structures
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FX policy frameworks, hedging mandates and derivatives infrastructure for corporate treasuries
Advice is designed to translate directly into decisions, transactions and operating frameworks.
INDEPENDENT
HANDS-ON
PRAGMATIC
DISCREET
MIKE DUNCAN
THE PORTFOLIO SURGEON
Mike brings structuring, trading, portfolio management and risk perspectives to every mandate, connecting individual transactions to their broader portfolio and balance sheet impact.
He focuses on identifying and eliminating structural inefficiency, engineering better hedge frameworks and freeing trapped capital.
30 years of experience across financial markets, trading, structuring, risk, and portfolio management
Helps corporate treasuries build, rebuild and strengthen derivatives infrastructure, FX policy and hedging programmes
- Bachelor of Commerce (University of Otago)
- Master of Applied Finance (Macquarie University)
- Master of Business Administration (Macquarie University)
- FlexiMasters in Financial Technology (Nanyang Technological University)
WHY PARA BELLUM
SPECIALIST EXPERTISE. REAL-WORLD IMPACT.
Engaged when advice must translate into action and decisions must be owned.
The right solution is only useful if it fits the portfolio, works within the constraints and works in practice.
Para Bellum brings the market expertise, structuring discipline and execution focus to make that happen.
DEEP SPECIALIST FOCUS
Deep expertise across financial markets, derivatives, structuring and risk.
FRONTLINE EXPERIENCE
FLEXIBLE ENGAGEMENT
DISCRETION & ACCOUNTABILITY
THERE IS USUALLY A BETTER WAY.
Whether it is a straightforward FX hedge, a new derivatives programme or a complex portfolio challenge, the best outcomes start with getting the basics right.