IFAs seek short-term finance for clients

Paul Aitken, who set up Borro in 2008, said more intermediaries and IFAs are coming to ask for loans of between £1000 and £1m for their high to mid-net worth clients.

Borro, which is an online asset lender, securing cash funding for clients within a matter of one or two days, will value jewellery, art, cars or other similar assets, hold them in its vaults in the Silver Exchange, and return them to the owner once the debt has been repaid.

Mr Aitken said: “We do see some cases come to us where an IFA has been asked by a wealthy client how he can fund a refurbishment of a light aircraft, for example, but the majority of IFA clients referred to us are doing so because they are meeting a specific one-off cost such as a tax bill or business expense.”

He said the majority of referrals to date have been through mortgage or other brokers and IFAs, at 36 per cent and 26 per cent respectively, especially as traditional funding methods from the big banks have become scarce.

Borro has also just signed a distribution agreement with Cardiff-based Pink Pig Loans, which provides loans exclusively for intermediaries to help clients raise funds.

Malcolm Scanlon, adviser for Reading-based Niche Financial Solutions, said: “Our client required money to bridge a shortfall in funding to purchase a property and Borro provided a flexible solution.

“The further advantage of using Borro is there was no red tape and as the loan was effectively non-status, the transaction was completed quickly.”