B&C recently spent a day in the City office of Capital Bridging Finance Limited (CBFL), to get behind the scenes of the bridging lender and find out more about its team and procedures….
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div>B&C recently spent a day in the City office of Capital Bridging Finance Limited (CBFL), to get behind the scenes of the bridging lender and find out more about its team and procedures.
Upon entering the building on my last visit, I had to walk through a mob of protestors due to a G4S shareholder meeting in the same building but this time I was warmly greeted by the CBFL staff, which had been prompted about my impending ‘Fly on the Wall’ visit.
The Team
It was refreshing though how transparent and open everyone was at the lender – a quality which resonates throughout the team and a key USP Keith Aldridge, Managing Director of CBFL, said identified the lender and team from others in the market.
The CBFL Team (L-R): John Ryan, Finance Director; Emma Ryan, In-house Counsel and Office Manager; Iain McCarrell, Underwriter; Keith Aldridge, Managing Director; Lesley Saint, Underwriter; Amy Su, Graduate Trainee; Phil Dabbs, Head of Underwriting.
Underwriting
The underwriting team, which is expanding and currently hiring, is very hands on with all the deals the lender sees. Underwriting is the backbone to the way in which bridging works and Capital has three expert underwriters at its helm helping to facilitate bridging loans over the line for clients.
Unlike many lenders, Capital’s underwriters have constant and direct contact with intermediaries, speeding up the process immensely, assisting them with enquiries and problems.
There is open discussion with one another over certain deals and brokers, which flows and resonates throughout the office.
During feasibility checks, the underwriters draft cover notes highlighting all aspects of a case and also any specific elements which they believe may need to be further investigated.
A three-page underwriter’s report is written up about the overview of each case, with a break-down of the client’s financial situation and liabilities. This is an essential document used in the bridging process.
Systems
CBFL will be implementing a new bespoke online system soon, which will incorporate a fully integrated broker portal which pre-populates bridging forms and live cases for users. Not only will this speed up the lender’s application process and underwriting procedures, but the system will automatically prompt and chase brokers if there is any documentation left outstanding.
Collections
A Collections Manager role was created two months ago, bringing in an extra support string between brokers, clients and the underwriting team with redemptions.
Keeping in constant communication with the underwriting team and with brokers, the latter to ensure that they know how far their clients are in their loan terms, clients are prompted then to ensure that loans are redeemed on time.
A loans due report is issued every week internally amongst the team to ensure that everyone within the team is aware of live and maturing deals.
Finance
Since joining the team John has helped to work with the new funding lines CBFL has acquired and helped to implement its bespoke financial systems.
Due to the HSBC funding line CBFL secured, which went live on 6th December 2012, a bespoke system was created to depict all loans and financial forecasts as a result of the complexity of the new funding line. HSBC identified that the closest system to use and tailor to the bridging market, was that of the buy-to-let market.
There are numerous stress tests which are conducted and a report is ready every morning, with a weekly report being sent to HSBC and the other anonymous funder which backs CBFL.
Emma works with John on the finance side of duties, going through the systems and updating and checking the forecasts. Emma has a law background and acts as Capital’s in-house counsel, looking over all contracts and documents with third parties, valuers and legals. As the first point of contact at Capital, Emma is also the Head of HR and keeps everything ticking, from: advertising, training, compliance, money laundering, data protection, regulation, rating how introducers are performing every quarter and ensuring broker commissions are paid.
Bridging problems
The biggest problem which Phil sees in the industry today is the broker’s inability to complete a form fully and accurately. As the broker is very often in the middle of a client and the lender, their expertise and quality of service must be up to scratch to not only ensure correct advice is given but that a deal can be completed swiftly.
Another problem is that clients’ solicitors are not fully aware or educated enough with the bridging market. They are used to a system which they always use, and are not used to the speed of bridging.
Growth
There expansion plans afoot at the lender which will see it make the move into the West End come the end of the year. It is currently hiring for three professionals to join its ranks; an Underwriting Assistant, a Loans Administrator, and a Financial Accountant.
The lender is also about to install a bespoke computer software system, used by some big named banks, to its processes which will help speed up its bridging processes.
B&C learnt that there are on-going talks with another potential new funder at present.
Future
There was a real buzz and great mix of character and experience throughout the team during the day, which is testament to why Capital claimed the Best Newcomer Bridging Lender award at the latest B&C Awards. There are big plans ahead and B&C predicts Capital to make a big noise over the next 12 months!
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