Fulford-Smith builds Affinity with Platou hands

New shipbroker Affinity, led by Richard Fulford-Smith, has begun trading with around 70 employees, the bulk of which are ex-RS Platou staff who moved over at the close of 2014.

As TradeWinds went to press, Affinity (Shipping) LLP was in the final stages of completing a management buyout of the Norwegian broking shop’s London arm, RS Platou LLP.

The latter circulated an advisory note this week saying: “We appreciate that there has been a certain amount of speculation given recent merger activity, so we would like to take this opportunity to advise that our entire London team will be joining Affinity London.”

Affinity said: “… In addition we will be complemented by a further five offices worldwide, staffed by a team of around 70 in total.”

Fulford-Smith, who left broking giant Clarksons and eventually joined Platou — itself now a takeover target of Clarksons — in 2009, says this year promises “to set the tone for the second half of this decade”.

He describes the dry cargo sector as being “in a complete mess”, the tanker sector as having “some headwinds coming its way”, with the industry generally being up against some “difficult-to-solve geopolitical situations”.

But he adds that Affinity regards itself as being “extremely fortunate”, as 2015 looks set to be “a very interesting” year for shipping.

A temporary new website for Affinity boasts offices for the company in Singapore, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Seoul, along with London.

Dry cargo activities are largely concentrated out of Australia and Singapore, while the UK headquarters lists an 11-man sale-and-purchase (S&P) team, an eight-strong tanker team plus four-person newbuilding and LNG outfits. The company says it has “an exciting platform” from which it plans to deliver “an innovative and independent service” to its clients.

Fulford-Smith has explained previously that Affinity (Shipping) will act as a head and trustee company to a raft of sub- and broker-led LLPs based on the company’s different areas of expertise.

These will include a research department that will have an analyst in each team. The company plans to develop an apps-based system to provide live streaming of cargo and term business information to clients.

source:tradewindsnews.com