Connaught Asset Management, who provide funding lines to specialised partner and short-term lender Tiuta Plc, has revealed two of its Income Funds are responsible for £130 million of funding into the short-term lending market. 

The Connaught Income Funds Series 1 and 2 are both Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS) and have been designed to provide an essential boost to the residential market, at a time when high-street banks are reluctant to lend. 

Series 1 of the asset based investment funds finance bridging loans with a target LTV of 75 per cent, while funds within Series 2 finance short and medium-term secured lending with a target LTV of 65 per cent. The current average LTV in all Income Funds is below 60 per cent. Series 2 is an offshore version of Series 1 and it is an authorised Unit Trust regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. 

Alistair Mawdsley, Director of Connaught, explains the immediate benefits of this announcement at this time. He said: “In a market where positive growth and good income are both difficult to find, funds that achieve both are in short supply but this is exactly what the distribution or reinvested options for our income funds offer.” 

Maintaining Alistair’s positivity for the coming year, Steven Nicholas, Chief Executive of Tiuta Plc, added: “We continue to have a quality funding relationship with Connaught Asset Management and the fact that over £130 million of lending finance has been made available to us through the Income funds is a significant achievement.  There continues to be strong and ongoing demand for short-term and bridging loans as many other finance avenues are closed to borrowers.  We envisage a very successful end to 2011 and a strong opening to 2012.” 

Since the launch of the Series 1 Income Fund in July 2008, Connaught has funded over 550 loans to the sector. It is hoped that this pledge from Connaught will lead the way in encouraging other similar funding lines to pledge injections into the market to help boost the short-term sector in the coming year.