A Conversation, Not a Template

What we are looking for

There is no secret to the manner through which we conduct our business. We rely only on those with whom we are personally acquainted, and those who are introduced to us by longtime partners. The same rule governs the first exchange.

In a market crowded with templates, procedures and “full corporate offers,” a serious desk still begins in the same way it always has: with a short, considered note, written in its own name. Two paragraphs are enough. Twenty pages sent to a stranger are not how a transaction that can be stood behind usually starts.

This note is about that first exchange — what it contains when it is real, and what it does not.

In essence, we create connections. The Cristiani Group is intimate with a number of commodity producers, suppliers, traders and end-users. These are entities we have long-standing relationships with, and whose upstanding business practices we guarantee. We work, in particular, with independent and mid-sized physical traders, family-owned producers and distributors, and authentic brokerages that already hold valuable relationships and wish to work them with care.

A first note from any of those parties is most useful when it answers five plain questions.

In what capacity do you act? Principal desk, family company, or introducing brokerage. If the capacity is not said at the outset, everything that follows has to be unpicked later. We would rather know on line one.

What is the product, and what is the nature of the interest? A single lift is not a programme. A programme is not a hope. Naming the commodity and whether the interest is spot, a trial, or something intended to run is the difference between a conversation and a circular.

What is the manner of delivery, and which ports or regions actually work? Not every name on a list is a port that can be used. The desks we take seriously say what they can take and what they cannot, without dressing the limitation up as flexibility.

What is the scale, and in what window does it live? A band is more honest than a single heroic number. A window is more honest than “ASAP.”

How do you prefer to settle once product has been shown? Not before. Proof of product precedes pressure. A first note that leads with an instrument, and only later with the cargo, tells us a great deal — usually enough.

If you already hold a relationship you would like us to work with care, say so in the first line. We will follow your channel.

What we are not looking for

The Cristiani Group does not make extraordinary promises nor market “never-heard-of-before” prices. We do not ask the same of those who write to us.

We do not entertain drawn-out processes, unnecessary documentation and excessive waiting times at the door. A template SPA, a catalogue of instruments and a request to “send your procedures” — before anyone has said who they are — is not a first exchange. It is a filter, and it filters in the wrong direction.

We will not circulate a name through an open chain in order to see what comes back. We will not market an allocation we cannot substantiate. We will not invent an end-user so that a conversation can continue. Trust, we maintain, is the basis of any business transaction. A first note that asks us to pretend otherwise is not a note we can stand behind.

Why two paragraphs are enough

TCG offers a very straightforward approach to deal-making, having ensured the validity of the business partners it works with. We do what we say we do, and have the same expectation of our business partners.

Once interest is genuine, we put the understanding in writing. Names are exchanged only with consent, and only when both sides are prepared to say in what capacity they act. Associates and introducing brokers work with us under a clear fee arrangement before any introduction is made. That sequence is short on purpose. Drawn-out process is how weak files hide.

A first note of two considered paragraphs lets us see, quickly, whether there is a file that can be stood behind. If there is, the next step is quiet and specific. If there is not, a short reply to that effect is more useful than a long maybe. We do not make promises we could never hold ourselves accountable to, nor do we create unrealistic expectations.

How to begin

Please reach out to us with potential opportunities and we shall advise on a case-by-case basis. Write to business@thecristianigroup.com.

Say who you are. Say in what capacity you act. Say what you seek to source or place, the manner of delivery, the scale, the window, and how you prefer to settle once product has been shown. If a relationship already sits with you, name that fact first.

Our mission, after all, is to deliver peace of mind throughout the entire transaction period. That work starts before the first introduction — in the way the conversation is opened.

Replies are handled by the firm, in our own name.