What is it about Kuflink’s bridging proposition that differs from much of the market?
Primarily it is because Kuflink is a fully integrated business, which raises most of its funding internally via its P2P platform.
This gives us far more control over our criteria, the volumes we can write and significantly, unlike many of our peers we don’t have to rely on third party funders, who might want to withdraw at any point.
Bridging and development finance requests are thoroughly vetted before they go onto the Kuflink platform for our investors to fund.
We directly invest in the majority of propositions on the platform alongside our investors, so they can see we are serious about the deals we are asking them to fund.
How important is it to you to use real world experience when underwriting cases?
Every proposition is different and while I am a fan of technology, there isn’t an algorithm I would ever trust to underwrite our introducers’ cases.
Human experience is a vital commodity in assessing the value of a deal put forward for consideration and we are fortunate to have a team of seasoned underwriters with years of knowledge and understanding to assess projects and deals to put on our platform.
The purchase process has been slow and plagued with backlogs for a while now. How does Kuflink work with borrowers to speed up the ‘process’?
Bridging is supposed to be fast finance but increasing volumes and the extra visibility around regulated lending have worked their way into all lenders’ processing requirements.
We have worked very hard with our introducers to ensure that we have all the relevant detail about a case before we underwrite and tried to involve them in more of the process by giving them the responsibility to instruct AVMs, drive-by and full valuations when they feel it is appropriate.
It has meant there is much more of a partnership at work and the reaction has been very positive.
How do you assess the deals that you put on the platform? Does it help you be more flexible than other lenders?
Assessment of cases is undertaken by our very experienced underwriters which is the key to ensuring that deals not only complete but go through to their agreed end dates.
One of the reasons why – since we started our P2P platform – Kuflink has to date not lost any investor funds, is because of the quality of our underwriting.
Flexibility is a key component for us. Each deal is assessed on its individual merits by our experienced underwriters to be sure we are putting deals onto the platform about which we are confident.
What sets Kuflink apart from other lenders?
Kuflink’s strength stems from its independence as a fully integrated lender. Unlike most of our peers in the bridging market, we are not reliant on institutional funding sources.
Thanks to our P2P platform and our track record of providing good returns, thousands of individual investors trust us to provide the right opportunities to invest in our property backed deals.
How important are intermediary introducer relationships to Kuflink?
Kuflink’s route to market is exclusively introducer based. We understand the sector very well and brokers who engage with us recognise that our expertise is well merited.
We are always looking for ways to improve the customer journey and while our underwriting is strict, introducers know very quickly whether a case will be a winner and what we need to make an offer a reality.
By placing the responsibility for valuations in the hands of introducers, Kuflink is again showing leadership in the sector and doing everything it can to engage brokers in the process.
