ACAM Aviation Capital launches as ‘flexible financing’ alternative

Until now, the business has gone almost totally under the radar, Broderick said this is "intentional".

Asian Corporate Aviation Management (ACAM) has launched ACAM Aviation Capital as a flexible financing alternative to traditional lenders

Prepared to take on deals of sizes, Darren Broderick, CEO of ACAM, said the company “born of necessity” due to the conservative approach traditional lessors and financiers take to many clients the company introduces.

“We’re an approved operator for all of the major financiers on finance assets, which we operate on their behalf,” he said. “However, over the years, I’ve found it frustrating that traditional lessors and financiers have a very conservative approach to many potential clients.

“That might be due to the age of the aircraft, the type of aircraft, or the loan value itself. Many wealthy individuals aren’t ultra-high-net-worth individuals looking to spend $50-75m on ultra-long-range aircraft,” he added.

“Flexibility” is a key strength of the new business, said Broderick.

The new business, which is a separate entity from the ACAM brand, started operations in early January 2026. It is based in Europe, not Singapore like ACAM.

The company already has its first deal for a Gulfstream 550 in the final stages of paperwork. The firm is also looking at several other opportunities, including more conservative lower-end aircraft and even one upper-end aircraft valued around $60m, said Broderick.

As the headline suggests, flexibility is outlined as the differentiator for ACAM Aviation Capital, and Broderick is confident the company can draw on a pool of customers already familiar with the ACAM brand.

He said the company will not compete directly with the bigger players. “We’re focused on niche requirements, primarily serving ACAM Group clients,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean we won’t take on other opportunities, but that’s not the business plan at this stage. It’s really about catering to our clients’ needs.

“Some clients are looking for more conservative, entry-level aircraft — Hawkers, Legacies, Cessna Citations and the like — where the loan value might only be $3-5m, or under $10m,” he added. “In those cases, traditional banks and lenders often aren’t interested.”

In terms of approach and evaluation, it is about loan-to-value (LTV), said Broderick. Traditional financing is typically conservative, especially for pre-owned aircraft, often limited to 65-70% LTV. “We can take a much more flexible approach,” he noted.

The “beauty” of this model is that ACAM Aviation Capital is both the financier and, through ACAM, the operator, said Broderick. “Traditionally, a finance company relies on an approved operator as added security. In our case, we’re the whole package,” he explained. “That gives us close to 100% security over the asset at all times because it remains in our care and custody.”

Richard Adams, senior finance partner, ACAM Aviation Capital, added: “With the many Asian clients Darren has supported over the years, it’s about introducing structure and governance around lending where mainstream lenders struggle. We also ensure our own capital, or investor capital, is aligned with client expectations and returns.”

Adams said the company is backed by institutional investment and can work with family offices. “We’ve also structured a debt note to the market, which is being well received,” he added. “Asia presents challenges for many Western lenders, but our ability to de-risk opportunities and deploy our own capital is a real value-add.”

Offering a legal perspective, Robert Calleja, chief legal advisor, ACAM Aviation Capital, said: “This structure has been done before, which is reassuring. We don’t like novelty as lawyers. Commercially and from a marketing standpoint, however, this fills a genuine gap in the market, and that’s the exciting part.”

Punch in a Google search and there is nothing to find about ACAM Aviation Capital aside from the odd Gemini hallucination. This is intentional, according to Broderick.

“We’ve soft-launched and are initially drawing from our existing client base,” he said. “We considered launching officially at CJI London, but decided to keep it soft for now. A more formal announcement may come at CJI Dubai or Singapore, where our head office is based.”

So, what do the traditional lenders think? Broderick said they’ve wished the venture well.

“They understand we’re filling a niche they’d like to address but can’t, due to their own constraints and conservative capital structures,” he noted. “It’s also worth mentioning that we can turn previously un-bankable assets into financeable ones by de-risking transactions.”