New York- and Greenwich, Conn.-based Sands Brothers Asset Management has launched an asset-backed lending fund to exploit opportunities in small-cap private and public markets.

The firm’s Genesis Merchant Partners fund makes loans to both domestic and international companies in niche and under-the-radar markets often overlooked by banks and other providers of capital, according to Timothy Doede, director of research. For instance, a portion of the portfolio is dedicated to financing the fur trade, specifically animal pelts.

The fund will lend between $1 million to $5 million and put on two to three positions per month with a loan period of less than 12 months.

“We think we’re in a really good time right now, especially with the credit markets and they way they’ve been,” said Doede. “I think we’re getting a lot of good credit quality for the types of loans we’re looking at.”  

In addition to the Genesis fund, the firm also manages the Select Access Funds, a family of a global multi-strategy funds of hedge funds investing in emerging small- to mid-sized managers pursuing niche strategies, and the Venture Funds, a venture capital fund. All told, the firm manages $140 million across its products.

Martin Sands and his brother, Steven, founded the firm in 1999.