Dear Clients, Friends and Colleagues
After the year that shall never be forgotten, the pandemic, the demise of Trump and to round it off, Brexit, I am sure we all feel like we have been through the mill and somewhat discombobulated.
Although we did not come out of Brexit with a dreaded “no-deal”, we are still waiting for the full impact on our daily lives and it remains a weight on the UK economy.
The inauguration of President Biden last week felt like a new beginning for us all after a period of increasing confusion and chaos in the US, with Biden getting straight to work on the enormous task ahead.
I think we can expect to see our lives getting back to some normality by the summer as the vaccination process is rolled out. However, this will be a slow process and expectations shall have to be managed. Hopefully, we are nearing the end of the huge disruption caused by Covid-19 in 2020.
Sancus News
As mentioned in my December newsletter there have been some positive changes at Sancus and its parent, AIM-listed GLI Finance, with the completion of an equity raise, refinancing of the Group debt liabilities and future streamlining of the Group structure. Apart from reflecting the confidence that all stakeholders have in the business, much of this shall not have any meaningful effect on Sancus Co-Funders. However we shall be streamlining the business into two key pillars:
- Origination – broken down into Ireland, UK and Offshore (Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and the IoM); and
- Funding – for all jurisdictions.
We have recently made two new appointments, Rory Mepham and James Waghorn. Rory and James worked previously for the Somerston Group.
Rory will fill a newly created role as Head of Funding at Sancus. He shall be involved in all funding activities, including the HIT credit facility, the Sancus Loan Note (run by Amberton) and overseeing Co-Funders (including private clients, HNWIs, institutional and family offices).
James will strengthen the UK property focused team.
Rory & James are welcome additions to the team, as both are seasoned property investors and advisors with extensive experience in capital raising and lending respectively.
Interview with Private Client Dining Club
I was recently interviewed about the property sector by David Bell of The Private Client Dining Club, discussing the Sancus operating model and how the events of 2020 have impacted the business, if you are interested in seeing the interview, see the link below!
Interest Rates and Returns on your cash
Over the last 10 years, interest rates have remained low and getting a return on your cash, above the rate of inflation, has been a difficult task for those with savings. During this period interest rates have averaged under 0.5% pa and inflation 2%.
As the government works with the Bank of England to get the country back on its feet post – pandemic and post- Brexit, an increase in interest rates looks increasingly unlikely in the foreseeable future, with the BOE actively exploring the possibility of negative interest rates. This would mean interest being taken from savers cash deposits rather than added and the potential of various bank charges being reintroduced.
Historically, government bonds were an option for those seeking a higher return than cash whilst offering a low-level risk but again bond yields have significantly fallen over the same period, with the majority of the world’s “Investment Grade” bonds paying under 1%.1
Increasingly, those with cash in the bank are looking for alternative ways of getting a return on their money, whilst balancing this against their risk profile.
Co-Funding with Sancus offers a variety of attractive risk adjusted short to medium term returns across the UK, Ireland and offshore jurisdictions, supported by underlying assets and managed by an experienced team of professionals.
As well as co-funding alongside Sancus in selected loans, there is also the option of participating in the Sancus Loan Note Programme (please note we are not recommending this opportunity as we are not authorised to market investment products). This is listed on the International Stock Exchange and operated by Amberton Asset Management, for further information please contact Matt Watson.
If you would like to know more about Co-Funding with Sancus or you know someone who may be interested please click here to see our brochure or contact one of the team.
In Summary
We are seeing a very active property sector in the UK and Ireland currently and we completed a number of loans in Q4 2020.
Sancus remains focused on loan origination, supporting both local and national economies and working closely with developers, entrepreneurs and property specialists to meet their funding requirements.
As always, we are available to talk and answer any queries you may have, please email your relationship manager in the first instance, here are our staff contact details can be found.
Kindest regards
Andrew Whelan
CEO, The Sancus Group
Sources : 1 Bloomberg – Markets – Rates and Bonds
