Tue 17 Jan 2012
The Returns on Offer in an Increasingly Uncertain Investment World
Posted by admin under CapitalComments Off
The trade bodies were the subject of discussion last week with some voicing concerns as to how effective and representative they are, with one body in particular the source of a different debate.
Colin Sanders, Chief Executive at Omni Capital, last week called for best finance to be ‘truly effective and representative trade bodies’ for the sector this year, with some believing that he was suggesting that the Association of Short Term Lenders (astl) is not working.
Adrian Bloomfied, Chief Executive of the astl, has already publicly stated that the trade bodies are very effective and highly regarded, which is why there is a section in the FSA’s latest MMR paper focusing specifically on the short-term sector.
Speaking about how effective and representative the lender trade bodies are in the industry, Christian Faes, Managing Director at Montello Finance, said: “It certainly would be good if there was an effective industry organisation that cohesively represented the interests of bridging lenders.”
Adam Tyler agreed that further discussion was needed to agree the responsibilities of each bridging lender respectively. He added: “A Trade Body should operate, of course for the benefits for its members and for no other reason. We have the added advantage that by benefitting our members, the SME’s of the UK also get help. With over 70 lenders that helps both brokers and customers’ parties grow their business, and all the time at the heart of the NACFB is our Code of Practice and this is the basis on which we work, it gives both protection and assistance without the need to be regulated by the FSA and this should be the focus.
Christian Faes, told B&C: “To be honest, anyone who is actively involved in the bridging finance market knows that it is quite crowded. It is a bit self-serving (although not for its members!) for an industry organisation to be talking up the prospects for even more entrants to the market.”
However, our industry insider believes: “One of the main reasons for the influx of new lenders is due to some existing lenders extensively publicising how much business they are doing and also the various claims as to the size of the sector, which are unsupported by independent audited empirical data.”
“The short term market is attracting new companies all the time because of the returns on offer in an increasingly uncertain investment world. The 10 per cent plus returns are very attractive coupled with the level of security on offer.”
Adam Tyler disclosed more information on the NACFB workings. He said: “Last year the NACFB saw a 180 per cent increase in short lending introductions by our members, of whom around three quarters are unregulated by the FSA, that £1 billion plus of short-term lending from the NACFB went to a wide choice of short term lender. There are ample funds available in this marketplace to sustain the requirements and when the rest of the market is still very restricted, we need to ensure that the perception of the Bridging market is correct.”