Sancus BMS Group, the niche alternative finance provider, founded in Jersey in 2013 by Andrew Whelan and John Davery has now surpassed £1 billion of funding.
The business launched following the financial crisis of 2008, as banks drastically cut back on loans to consumers and businesses, Sancus made loans more accessible to borrowers, with faster decision making and shorter completion times. The business model was based on matching Borrowers with Co- Funders whilst managing the associated risks for both and underwriting each transaction.
Sancus has since grown to a staff of 50 over six jurisdictions, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Isle of Man *, UK and most recently Ireland, where the Dublin office opened in August 2018.
Sancus operates a hybrid funding model throughout the business with three sources of funding, Sancus’proprietary capital, Co-Funders and Institutional funders. Co-Funders include private clients, High Net Worth Individuals and family offices. Honeycomb Investment Trust and the Sancus Loan Note programme provide the main lines of institutional funding and Sancus places its own capital in every loan written.
Andrew Whelan (CEO) said: “The £1bn funding milestone of The Group coincides with significant developments in the digitisation of the business following the launch of the FCA regulated interactive trading platform for UK funders last year. Alternative finance is a highly competitive space and our investment in the technology behind the business is essential for us to support our robust credit processes. We are still very much a relationship based business but our investment in technology acts as a facilitator and enables the business to scale across multiple jurisdictions.”
