Short-term luxury asset lender Suros Capital has highlighted a missed opportunity among brokers and advisers, stating that many are not asking clients about their full asset profile during fact finds – resulting in overlooked finance options.
According to Suros, research carried out among mortgage brokers and financial advisers shows that many only ask clients about traditional holdings like property or bank accounts.
This, the lender says, could mean missing viable sources of collateral for short-term lending, particularly for clients with valuable assets such as jewellery, fine art, luxury cars or watches.
Ray Palmer, director at Suros Capital, said: “Clients looking for short term funding won’t immediately think about the value in the assets that they might own, such as jewellery, fine art, watches or upmarket cars for example.
“It is vital to get a full picture of a client’s financial situation and that should include assets that could be used to back a loan.”
Palmer added that some advisers may be hesitant to raise questions around luxury items, viewing them as personal or unrelated to lending. However, he believes this approach could be limiting. “Unfortunately many advisers do not ask. One of the main reasons is a reluctance to engage clients over what they consider as private and not part of a lending transaction.
“However, I would urge advisers to rethink the importance of getting a full picture of a client’s assets.
“You never know when having that knowledge might make the difference between being able to obtain finance because you have made your client aware of using a luxury item as security.”
Suros Capital lends against a wide range of physical assets, including high-end vehicles, fine jewellery and luxury watches, with a focus on fast-turnaround, non-status lending.
