Short-term lender hits $1bn milestone

Assetline Capital’s co-founders and executive directors, Nick Raphaely and Steven Beinart, thanked investors and brokers for their support, and told The Adviser that the non-bank would be expanding its business development manager (BDM) team and expanding its product offering next year as part of its growth plans.

Mr Beinart commented: “The team has worked hard over many years to achieve this milestone.  

“It would not have been possible without the support of our dedicated and passionate team, loyal investor base as well as consistent, quality deal flow from our broker network.”

Speaking to The Adviser, Mr Raphaely said Assetline had seen growth “accelerate tremendously” in the last 18 months, due to a range of factors.

He explained: “We’ve been building our brand, which is an exercise that takes years, not weeks. It has been pushed by the will and the commitment of the team to grow the business.

“Our capacity to fund has also grown over the years as the business has gotten bigger and our ability to raise money and fund deals has increased. Building capacity to write bigger deals obviously gets you to the bigger numbers more quickly, and the deal flow has risen too as more people know us and market share moves to non-banks.”

New products

While the lender specialises in short-term bridging loans, it has been building out its loan offering recently, including to development exit loans and construction finance.

According to Mr Raphaely, the construction division has grown rapidly since its launch earlier this year, particularly in the $5-20 million space, where he said there was a “gap in the market”.

Looking forward, the short-term lender is expecting to start offering longer-term products, too.

Mr Raphaely told The Adviser: “A longer-term product is probably the next growth area for our business. While having a shorter-term, bridging-style offering will remain because there’s always going to be a market for that and we want to retain the attributes that have made the business successful – the speed, flexibility and responsiveness – we want to offer that in a product which goes beyond the short-term roots of the business.

“So, bringing that to market next year is an area of interest for us. We need to be able to offer these borrowers something competitive that makes it compelling for them to stay with us longer term. But its growth is subject to risk management,” he said.

Mr Beinart added that risk management was “front and centre” of what Assetline Capital does.

New BDMs

Assetline has also been building its BDM network to support its broker partners, welcoming two new BDMs in Sydney and two in Melbourne.

Mr Beinart commented: “As we have grown, we have bolstered the team in this important area”. The BDM team is now five people strong.

Finance consultant Jason Lucas joined Assetline in Sydney last month, while finance broking specialist Graeme Capel will join the company next week.

In Melbourne, former brokerage manager Matthew Hempel has just joined the company and will be joined by another BDM counterpart next year.

Mr Beinart said: “We are focused on growing our BDM network. This has proved a successful channel for us over the years. The current push is in NSW and Victoria, with Queensland to follow.”

Mr Raphaely concurred, adding: “We recognised that, if we can get the right BDM on board, it’s a win-win. The BDM and broker does well, and the house does well, too. So, it’s a strategy where, if you get the right people, it works for everybody.”

[Related: Short-term lender launches construction funding division]