Code Investing announces £0.5bn institutional funding line for UK SMEs

Code Investing’s institutional loans, starting at £500,000, capped at £5m and available to firms across all sectors, are being targeted at established UK SMEs seeking growth capital.

In the search for yield, non-bank pension and asset management funds are redeploying a greater share of investor growth capital away from equities and bonds towards proven UK SMEs.

The loans are being provided in the form of structured and asset finance, hire purchase and leasing arrangements, bridging facilities, cash flow and unsecured loans.

Companies and commercial brokers alike are fast waking up to the benefits of institutional loans, which include lower arrangement fees, longer loan terms and rapid completion times.

Code Investing says institutions, which often require no external due diligence, can complete on even bigger loans in roughly one month. This compares to 2–3 months on the high street.

Firms on Code Investing’s institutional lending panel also tend to be less fixated on warranties and PGs, which can prove a critical stumbling block in a commercial loan application.

Ayan Mitra, CEO, Code Investing, commented:

“It can be difficult to get your head around at first but some of the nimblest business lenders out there right now are some of the world’s biggest financial institutions. In the wake of the global financial crisis, we saw the emergence of challenger banks and alternative finance providers and we’re now going full circle, as major institutional investors muscle in on the SME finance market with loan rates starting from as little as 4%. While banks will tend to dominate the upper end of the mid-market arena, and alternative finance providers the lower end, institutional lenders are increasingly filling the space in between. It’s a development that all commercial brokers, business advisors and accountants need to have on their radars. The £0.5bn we now have access to will open new doors for countless UK SMEs seeking growth capital and be a major fillip to the economy in the face of Brexit.”