Assetz launches institutional fund
ASSETZ Capital has launched a Luxembourg-based private fund, in order to attract more institutional money to scale up its lending.
The peer-to-peer lender unveiled the new fund on Thursday, which is purely open to institutional and professional investors.
The fund will invest in small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans backed by property, originated by Assetz Capital. Around 90 per cent of the loans will come from regional geographies outside London.
Assetz Capital said that an unnamed, “highly innovative, well-established, Financial Conduct Authority-authorised fund manager will act as the investment manager for the fund”.
As Peer2Peer Finance News reported in March, Assetz Capital has been securing a number of institutional funding deals to support its expansion plans. It recently announced an agreement with Germany’s Varengold Bank.
“This new fund launch provides a new long-term funding structure to further increase the scale of our marketplace and our lending support to UK SMEs,” said Stuart Law (pictured), chief executive of Assetz Capital.
“It further expands the universe of investors that can access the Assetz Capital marketplace, alongside our valued retail lenders.
Read more: Assetz Capital attracts £10m into 90-day account in just one week
“We believe that our small-balance, real estate-backed loans can provide an additional, well-diversified source of sustainable income to an investor’s portfolio. At the same time, it allows investors to diversify and more conservatively position their real estate investment exposure.
“Assetz Capital is a marketplace where British businesses can access capital, and investors can participate in hundreds of SME loans at the click of a button. This is the first in a number of new institutional and retail funding initiatives that we will be announcing in the coming months as we continue our mission to create one of the UK’s leading sources of secured income for all classes of investors.”
Assetz Capital recently unveiled plans for a fresh fundraising round on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, aiming to raise £1m. It also indicated the possibility of an initial public offering in the future.
