Fast, flexible and reliable property finance

IN Partnership with

After almost 40 years of operations under all types of market conditions, Fico Finance continues to offer advisers and their clients a professional and personalised approach to business and property finance

ADVISERS WITH clients or lending scenarios requiring fast feedback, innovative thinking or flexible non-bank structures are increasingly turning to Fico Finance. Operating since 1985, Nelson-based Fico provides short-term property finance throughout the country, focusing both on main centres and provincial New Zealand. Fico’s speed, flexibility and practical attitude to funding requests allows it to consider virtually any type of business transaction in order to meet a wide variety of commercial needs. Fico generally provides three- to 18-month facilities to support business owners, investors, builders and developers. With a focus on finding rapid, practical solutions, Fico has established a niche position in the property finance market, currently providing facilities of between $250,000 and $3 million (with larger transactions on an individual basis).

Fico Finance offers first- and second-mortgage secured funding to businesses, investors, builders and developers throughout New Zealand. With a wide range of loan products available to support capitalisation, cash flow, bridging, equity release, construction and project finance needs, Fico provides flexible, made-to-measure funding options for advisers and their clients.

Find out more

“Fico is very focused on funding short-term projects where a clear upside for advisers and clients is evident. Providing solutions to help clients complete a transaction and take advantage of an opportunity that without Fico may not have been achievable is very satisfying”

Bruce Yelverton, Fico Finance

Fico business development managers Finn Brooke and Bruce Yelverton recognise how important responsiveness and transparency are to advisers and their client base. With training and backgrounds in law, banking and finance broking, they understand business, property and development finance transactions and have decades of experience in structuring debt funding solutions.

To better service its expanding adviser network, Fico has developed and refined streamlined assessment, credit review and documentation processes, taking care to keep the needs of introducers and their clients foremost. Fico’s managers are the first point of contact for advisers, providing the preliminary assessments and recommendations to Fico’s credit committee for final approvals. The majority of applications recommended by Fico’s managers are ultimately credit-approved, allowing advisers to have confidence in an application’s progression from indicative terms through to settlement. After discussing a proposal and reviewing preliminary information, Fico can usually provide a same-day response with indicative terms. If subsequently approved, a conditional letter of offer is usually issued within 24 hours. Once an offer is accepted, loan documents are generally issued to the borrower’s solicitor within a further 24 hours. With Fico, advisers know they can move fast to meet their clients’ needs, lock in a funding solution and close the deal. “Fico is very focused on funding short-term projects where a clear upside for advisers and clients is evident,” comments Fico manager Bruce Yelverton. “Providing solutions to help clients complete a transaction and take advantage of an opportunity that without Fico may not have been achievable is very satisfying.”

“With private real estate debt experiencing sustained growth as an asset class, many advisers are realising the benefits of being able to access private funding options via the Fico-Select partnership”

Finn Brooke, Fico Finance

are realising the benefits of being able to access private funding options via the Fico-Select partnership.”

Published 23 Sep 2024

Resources

News

Specialty

Best in Mortgage

Mortgage Industry

Companies

People

Newsletter

About us

Authors

Conditions of Use

Terms & Conditions

Sitemap

RSS

News

MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

BEST IN MORTGAGE

SPECIALTY

Resources

Companies

People

Newsletter

About us

Authors

Conditions of Use

Terms & Conditions

Sitemap

RSS

News

MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

BEST IN MORTGAGE

SPECIALTY

Resources

Companies

People

Newsletter

About us

Authors

Conditions of Use

Terms & Conditions

Sitemap

RSS

Adviser-focused framework

Deal-by-deal approach

Fico applies a practical approach to credit assessment and risk management across a wide range of deal types, including development funding, bridging finance, equity releases, restructures or rescues. Bruised credit, no financials, unclear exit, lack of presales and draft project costings are all features that can complicate deal placements. When there are elements in a transaction that are challenging from credit or risk perspectives, Fico is always ready to discuss mitigating factors and explore commercial solutions. For development funding, a typical scenario for Fico might involve a builder or developer seeking funding for a self-managed project, often on a labour-only or non-fixed-price basis. Rather than blanket policies requiring fixed-price contracts or third-party project management, Fico will assess projects on their own merits, considering the client experience, ingoing equity, project feasibility and proposed exit strategies.

If a loan application does not initially appear to fit credit criteria, Fico’s managers will look for ways to restructure or enhance the deal to make it fundable. Fico’s ability to accept a wide range of security types - including second mortgages – together with its core first mortgage requirements, means a deal can often be shaped to fit.

Flexible funding, transparent pricing

Fico’s flexible approach to finance extends to the terms and conditions of its funding. Unless complex securities are involved, Fico generally offers borrowers the option of obtaining real estate agents’ appraisals instead of registered valuations, providing clear cost and time benefits. Where other funders may require quantity surveyor engagement at the outset of a project to validate costings and approve progress payments, Fico is often able to waive this requirement and approve staged drawdowns against valuers’ certificates, approved invoices or other agreed milestones. Additionally, although project presales usually assist from a risk management perspective, Fico often does not require them to make a deal work. When it comes to pricing and conditions, Fico always aims to keep costs, conditions and processes as simple as possible, with no hidden entry or exit fees. For development loans or facilities that are advanced progressively, borrowers pay interest on drawn funds only, with no line fees or non-utilisation fees for undrawn funds. Borrowers are always able to repay loans at any time within the loan term without attracting penalty interest, penalty exit fees or any early repayment cost.

Private debt funding options

For transactions outside the construction or development sector that meet specific credit criteria, Fico offers private funding options facilitated via the wholesale investment and lending platform Select Invest. Through Select Invest, advisers and their clients can access a network of private lenders with a diverse range of risk appetites and loan preferences. Fico co-invests in selected loans and is able to underwrite transactions until fully subscribed, providing advisers and borrowers with confidence in the availability of funding and timing of settlement. Fico manager Finn Brooke notes, “With private real estate debt experiencing sustained growth as an asset class, many advisers

From Great Barrier to Invercargill

Fico attributes some of its recent growth to the geographic spread of its loan book and its ability to provide property and project funding solutions in both the main centres and other regions of New Zealand. This enables Fico to assist the increasing number of advisers who have clients with interests and opportunities in locations where non-bank funding can be hard to access. “While Fico is large enough to provide nationwide funding for a wide variety of transaction types, it’s agile enough to offer a rapid, hands-on approach to assessments, approvals, settlements and credit management,” says Brooke.

Investment purchases Equity release for business purposes Commercial owner-occupied Property development Rescues Bridging finance (open or closed) Equity release for tax arrears Greenfield subdivisions Renovations Residual stock finance

Examples of loan types financed by Fico