Bermuda has been home to some of the most significant aircraft
asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions of the past decade,
including highprofile deals such as Elix Aviation Capital's
Prop 2017-1 Ltd in 2017, and Start Ltd in 2018, the first aircraft
portfolio purchase vehicle structure to include a dedicated asset
manager for equity investors.
Until 2018, ABS transactions in the aviation sector followed a
largely similar structure. The market has been busy since 2011,
with 2017 seeing a record 14 ABS deals close and 2018 seeing a
similar number.
However, investors have continued to seek value, which has
resulted in some of the most significant structural changes to the
traditional ABS model for some time. These changes include: (i) the
use of tradable E-notes in order to increase liquidity; (ii)
deploying a dual-issuer structure to avoid the risk of the US
withholding tax for non-US investors; (iii) appointing dedicated
asset managers for equity investors in
