Category: Blog

It has been nearly seven years since Fiduciam granted its first Irish bridging loan, and its Irish lending operation has grown strong since, now with a dedicated five-person team, offering bridging loans, development finance and commercial mortgages all across Ireland.  Over the last seven years Fiduciam’s bridge finance solutions have assisted a wide variety of businesses in Ireland: property investors, developers, hotels, pubs, farmers, manufacturers, care home operators, retailers, and even performing artists.       

Last week, Fiduciam successfully assisted a long-term client with a time-sensitive transaction, providing them with the necessary funding within a remarkable timeframe of just one week, thereby setting a new time record for an Irish bridging loan completion. 

The client was a repeat borrower fully familiar with Fiduciam’s Irish bridging loan solutions; in this instance they had urgent liquidity needs to complete the purchase of investment properties for future development schemes. The objective was to extract €1,150,000 of equity from a semi-commercial Georgian building located on Pembroke Road, a sought-after location in Dublin city centre, using a bridging finance solution. 

Fiduciam was able to facilitate the entire Irish bridging loan quantum requested by the client at a competitive monthly interest rate of 0.85% and a loan-to-value of 65%, for a 12-month term. 

Fiduciam’s experienced underwriting team and streamlined credit approval process allowed the facility to be completed within the short timeframe. This process ranges from obtaining initial risk approval and completing comprehensive know-your-customer due diligence, to finalising a legal and valuation review and gaining full credit approval. Fiduciam collaborated with McGahon & Associates to finalise the legal documents in record timing. Vincent Finnegan, who have previously worked with Fiduciam on multiple Irish bridging loans, provided an expert valuation of the property. 

Luca Ciliento, Development Finance Associate for Ireland, said: “We are thrilled to have provided a fast and efficient Irish bridging loan solution for a repeat client, enabling them to seize a profitable investment opportunity. At Fiduciam, we prioritise speed, reliability and client satisfaction above all else”. 

Yasmeen Dufils, Senior Underwriter for Ireland, commented: “We are delighted to have assisted our long-term client in this transaction, thereby completing an Irish bridging loan within a record time of one week, and we look forward to continuing to provide reliable and efficient lending solutions to businesses and individuals in Ireland”. 

Fiduciam’s Irish bridging loans are flexible and tailored to each client’s specific requirements, offering an attractive solution in situations where urgent working capital is required, to complete acquisitions or to make new investments. 

The year 2022 came with its challenges, even for Santa. Yet we end the year on a high, with a Santa loan to help him overcome the energy crisis and to make him ESG friendly. Kids all around the world can breathe relief! We wish all our clients and partners a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year; and we hope you enjoy this new episode of The Office.

At Fiduciam we are committed to providing our female employees with opportunities to break the glass ceiling and fulfil their professional ambitions. We invest heavily in training, development, and individual mentoring, while rewarding achievements and excellent performance. Fiduciam signed up for the Woman in Finance Charter in 2019 and set ambitious targets to strengthen our commitment to equality and gender diversity. We have now exceeded these objectives and were recognised as a finalist in the ‘Employer of the Year’ category at the Women in Credit Awards 2021.

In 2022, three women have already achieved promotions at Fiduciam; Celia Garcia Virosta has been promoted to Head of Digital Transformation while Louisa Willoughby and Sabrina Warmerdam have been promoted to Underwriter. Charlotte De Baere, Head of Operations, comments: “There is no glass ceiling here. I joined Fiduciam as a graduate. Four years later, I now manage the operations team – this is a place of pure meritocracy.” This highlights Fiduciam’s commitment to recognising individual talent and ambition and encouraging career development.

A priority at Fiduciam is maintaining a collaborative company culture that encourages women to support one another in their professional growth and reach their full potential. Valeria Quintana Barbella, Senior Underwriter, explains: “In an industry where being cut-throat and aggressive is usually associated with leadership, women leaders should have not only a high IQ but also a high degree of emotional intelligence. I admire women leaders when they show that they genuinely care about, appreciate, and respect the contributions of their team members and how committed they are to helping them maximize their potential.”

We are also committed to showcasing our employees’ outstanding achievements by nominating them for external recognition. Cristina Villén, Country Manager for Spain, won Rising Star of the Year at the Women in Credit Awards in 2021 and was featured in Bridging & Commercial’s 35 under 35 Power List. Marieke Eskens, Director and Head of Case Management, was a finalist in the category ‘Mentor of the Year’ in the Women in Credit Awards and was also featured in Bridging & Commercial’s Power List 2021 for her integral involvement Fiduciam’s participation in the Coronavirus Business Interruption Lending Scheme.

Ana Díaz, Marketing Manager, comments “Thanks to working at Fiduciam, surrounded by a team that supports and promotes equality in the financial sector, I am never afraid to lead marketing projects where the audience is – sadly – still often male-dominated. It is inspiring to see how ambitious female colleagues are shaking up the status quo!”

We at Fiduciam are excited to see how the female team members continue to push boundaries and change mindsets within the financial services industry and elsewhere. We are dedicated to do everything necessary to facilitate this and to improve representation, opportunities and experiences for all women.

Whilst we look forward to 2022 filled with the promise of the return to normalcy the year 2021 came with its challenges, even for Santa: elf-labour shortages due to COVID-19, then followed by the global supply chains crisis. Fortunately we were able to assist with a working capital loan. It required a visit to the North Pole in freezing temperatures, a pledge over reindeer and sleighs, and AML onboarding with a long out-of-date passport and no proof of source of funds. We wish all our clients a happy and prosperous 2022!

Fiduciam continues to support small house builders across the United Kingdom with development funding. The latest project to approach completion is a seven-house development in Taplow.

Fiduciam provided a flexible multi-drawdown facility that enabled the borrower to repay early if sales were strong while providing the security of a longer-term loan. The interest rate is a competitive 0.74% per month. Interest was retained for the initial part of the 24-month term.

The scheme has been well received by the market and multiple units are already under offer. Since Fiduciam and the borrower agreed to release amounts in advance, the borrower benefits from the certainty of knowing the proportion of sales proceeds that will be retained by Fiduciam and how much will be available for financing their next projects. Fiduciam expects the first sales to complete within the next two months.

Louisa Willoughby, Case Manager at Fiduciam, comments:
“Over the last year, Fiduciam has expanded its product offering targeted at small housebuilders. We have funded a variety of ground up projects for experienced developers across the United Kingdom, typically between 3 and 12 units. The Taplow project benefits from an excellent location and easy access to Crossrail. Its appeal to young families and commuters is confirmed by the sales already under way.”

Marc Morris, Underwriter at Fiduciam, adds:
“We are keen to develop close long-term relationships with borrowers such as the developer of the Taplow project. While new technological tools and platforms enhance our ability to gather and interpret information, and enable us to mitigate credit risk, they are no replacement for previous collaboration. From the borrower’s perspective, our knowledge of their business allows us to offer better terms that are more tailored to their requirements. For example, we often seek to help repeat borrowers transfer equity from one project to the next and thus accelerate the project cycle. We are also happy to discuss projects at an early stage, and to provide visibility on financing options.”