A high-net-worth Saudi national required a £30 million borrowing facility to fund an equity commitment into a major US construction project without disrupting a substantial UK investment portfolio. Rather than liquidating assets or restructuring investments, Wesley Ranger structured an execution-only Lombard lending solution that enabled the client to retain full investment discretion while unlocking significant liquidity against high value securities.

For international investors seeking to borrow against an investment portfolio without selling shares, Lombard lending can provide an efficient source of capital while preserving long-term investment strategies. This type of scenario is becoming increasingly common as wealthy individuals look to deploy capital into new opportunities without triggering unnecessary disposals or altering carefully constructed portfolios.

Preserving Investment Strategy While Releasing Significant Liquidity

The client held a diversified investment portfolio worth of significant value, custodied in the United Kingdom. The portfolio consisted of a balanced range of quoted securities and had been built to support long-term wealth preservation and growth.

At the same time, an opportunity had arisen to participate in a substantial construction project in the United States. Rather than dispose of investments to generate the required equity contribution, the client wanted to leverage the strength of the existing portfolio to raise approximately £30 million in Sterling before transferring the proceeds overseas.

Although the requested borrowing represented a relatively conservative level of leverage against the overall portfolio value, transactions of this nature involve considerably more than simply applying a loan-to-value ratio. Traditional lenders rarely offer facilities of this scale against investment portfolios, particularly where cross-border jurisdictions, international fund flows and specialist custody arrangements are involved.

Why Private Banking Expertise Was Essential

Lombard lending differs significantly from conventional property finance or commercial lending. Every portfolio must be individually assessed to determine both its quality and the level of lending it can safely support.

Traditional lenders often struggle to accommodate these cases because their lending models are designed around property security or conventional commercial assets. Securities-backed lending instead focuses on the liquidity, diversification and volatility of the underlying investments, alongside the borrower's wider financial profile and the purpose of the borrowing.

In this case, several important underwriting considerations needed to be evaluated before formal terms could be issued. These included the composition of the investment portfolio, the concentration of individual holdings, jurisdictional requirements relating to a Saudi resident borrower, custody arrangements, regulatory compliance and the intended transfer of funds into the United States.

Specialist private banks are able to assess these factors holistically rather than relying solely on standardised lending criteria. This enables them to structure facilities that are aligned with sophisticated international wealth management strategies.

Working closely with the client, Wesley Ranger identified a suitable institution capable of providing both custody and secured lending while allowing the client to retain complete discretion over investment decisions through an execution-only arrangement.

Structuring The Right Facility

One of the client's principal objectives was flexibility. Although the immediate requirement was approximately £30 million, there was a possibility that additional capital could be required as the US development progressed.

Rather than restricting the solution to a narrowly defined facility, discussions focused on selecting a lender with the capacity to support future borrowing requirements where appropriate, subject to ongoing portfolio values and standard lending criteria.

The client also wished to borrow in Pound Sterling despite the investment proceeds ultimately being deployed into the United States. This required consideration of both borrowing currency and the subsequent movement of funds across jurisdictions.

The proposed facility incorporated multi-currency borrowing capability, providing flexibility for both Sterling and US Dollar funding if required in the future. This type of flexibility is often valuable for internationally active investors where funding requirements may evolve over time.

Pricing was another important consideration. Because Lombard facilities are generally priced relative to the lender's underlying cost of funds, discussions centred on identifying a competitive institutional solution rather than simply comparing fixed headline interest rates.

Initial indications suggested pricing of approximately 0.50% above the lender's cost of funds, with illustrative all-in borrowing costs of around 4.24% on a variable Sterling basis or approximately 4.73% for a two-year fixed structure, subject to full underwriting and market conditions.

This allowed the client to consider the trade-off between rate certainty through fixed borrowing and maintaining maximum flexibility under a variable-rate facility.

A Solution Built Around Sophisticated Wealth Planning

This type of scenario is increasingly common among internationally mobile investors and entrepreneurs who hold substantial investment portfolios but require liquidity for commercial opportunities elsewhere.

Rather than interrupting a long-term investment strategy through the sale of appreciating assets, securities-backed lending allows qualifying clients to access capital while maintaining exposure to their underlying investments.

Similar principles are often seen across private banking lending strategies, high-net-worth borrowing solutions and cross-border finance for internationally diversified clients, where specialist structuring can produce materially different outcomes from mainstream banking approaches.

Because both custody and lending are integrated within the same institution, these facilities can often deliver operational simplicity alongside competitive pricing for appropriately qualified borrowers.

Key Takeaways

What made this transaction possible was not simply the size of the investment portfolio, but the ability to present it to a lender that specialises in securities-backed finance. Rather than assessing the case through conventional commercial lending criteria, the institution evaluated the quality, diversification and liquidity of the underlying investments together with the client's wider financial position and international funding requirements.

For clients considering Lombard lending, the choice of institution is often as important as the underlying portfolio itself. Different private banks apply varying lending values to different asset classes, maintain different concentration limits and adopt different approaches to international borrowers. Specialist advice helps identify the lender whose appetite, custody capabilities and underwriting philosophy best align with the client's objectives.