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 the derivatives and treasury frameworks around them.

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The mandate is simple: understand the requirement, design the right solution and make it happen.
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No products. No house view.
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Independent advice grounded in direct trading, structuring and portfolio management experience.
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PHILOSOPHY

SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM

“If you want peace, prepare for war.”

The right outcome starts with understanding what matters.

Understand the exposure. Know the constraints. Design the solution around them. Then apply the same discipline time after time, knowing when and how to adjust as circumstances change.

That is where specialist experience matters.

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THE PROBLEMS ARE OFTEN STRAIGHTFORWARD

Wrong tenors. Mismatched notionals. Basis risk. Inefficient collateral. Policies that do not reflect how the business truly operates.

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THE DIFFERENCE IS IN THE DETAIL

How a hedge is designed. How a transaction is structured. How counterparties are approached. How collateral is managed. How a programme is governed. How decisions are made when exposures change, markets move and constraints evolve.

Each may look manageable in isolation. Getting them right from the outset can make the difference between a hedging programme that simply keeps running and one that continues to reflect the exposures, constraints and needs of the business.

Para Bellum exists to bring that specialist capability to the table.

Resilience is not built during a crisis. It is engineered well before one, through hedging programmes that are correctly designed, tested against changing conditions and built to adapt across their full lifecycle.

That work is best done in normal markets, before conditions force the issue.

WHAT PARA BELLUM DOES

DESIGNING BETTER. MAKING IT WORK.

Para Bellum advises across financial markets, derivatives and treasury, from straightforward hedging requirements through to complex transactions and portfolio challenges.

Work typically spans:

  • FX, Rates, Credit, Equity and Volatility hedging

  • Portfolio engineering, overlays and capital efficiency

  • Derivatives structuring and trade architecture

  • Trade execution strategy and transaction management

  • Trading and risk infrastructure design

  • Funding and financing structures

  • FX policy frameworks, hedging mandates and derivatives infrastructure for corporate treasuries

Advice is designed to translate directly into decisions, transactions and operating frameworks.

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HOW IT WORKS

INDEPENDENT

No product pushing. No conflicted incentives. Advice is driven by the client’s objectives, not distribution.

HANDS-ON

Stays close to the exposures, the programmes and the decisions that matter.

PRAGMATIC

Solutions are designed to fit portfolios, balance sheets, committees and risk constraints.

DISCREET

Works discreetly where mandates, counterparties and decisions require confidentiality.

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FOUNDER

MIKE DUNCAN

THE PORTFOLIO SURGEON

Mike brings experience across trading, structuring, portfolio management and risk to his mandates, connecting individual transactions to their broader portfolio and balance sheet impact.

He helps clients design better hedge frameworks, structure transactions, improve capital efficiency and build the financial markets and treasury capabilities they need.

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30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

30 years across financial markets, trading, structuring, risk and portfolio management

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INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior roles at global banks, insurers and investment firms across Asia-Pacific and Europe, spanning cash and derivative markets, trading, hedging, portfolio management and balance sheet efficiency.

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SPECIALIST EXPERTISE

Specialist expertise across financial markets, derivatives, structuring, portfolio management and front-office risk.

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BUILT & OPERATED

Has designed and built derivatives and treasury capabilities from the ground up, including the infrastructure, systems, processes and frameworks that make them work.

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  • 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. MORE FIREPOWER.

30 years across trading, risk, structuring and portfolio management.

Para Bellum gives institutions and corporate treasuries access to senior financial markets expertise when they need it, whether that means building something new, improving what they already have or tackling a specific transaction or requirement.

More capability. Better decisions. Less for your team to carry.

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DEEP SPECIALIST FOCUS

Deep expertise across financial markets, derivatives, structuring, treasury and risk.

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FRONTLINE EXPERIENCE

30 years across trading, structuring, risk and portfolio management.

FLEXIBLE ENGAGEMENT

Engagement models designed around institutional and corporate treasury requirements.
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DISCRETION & ACCOUNTABILITY

Independence, confidentiality and accountability in every mandate.

LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN.

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.

LET'S TALK