Like all clients, high-net-worth (HNW) individuals want to secure their ideal home when they find it. However, their income structure and lending needs differ from most. This is where Brokers and specialist banks such as Investec can help.

Investec provides banking and wealth management services to successful, wealth creating clients, who are often time-poor and works with mortgage intermediaries to offer bespoke mortgage solutions with greater flexibility and scope than many retail banks.

If you’re sourcing a mortgage for a HNW individual, here are five learnings to be aware of.

Please reach out to the Investec team if you want to discuss a case or need more information.

While many retail lenders will calculate maximum loan-to-value as a multiple of annual salary, it’s important to consider wealth holistically. Many of our clients work in sectors such as private equity, investment banking or entrepreneurship and receive part of their income in stocks, bonuses or dividends – which may also be deferred. Investec is able to take this future income into account when assessing affordability.

To create an accurate picture of overall wealth, Brokers should be able to provide an in-depth summary of their client’s background including their career and business ventures. This can help lenders like Investec understand the client’s track record.

For ambitious individuals, borrowing to buy a home or investment property can be part of a wealth creation strategy, particularly in a time of low interest rates. A mortgage allows clients to protect existing investments as well as ensuring maximum tax planning can be accommodated.

For this reason, it’s common for mortgage applicants to have other assets or to want to preserve liquidity and this is not necessarily detrimental. In fact, it reflects a growth mind-set.

For clients with complex income streams, flexible repayment plans can be a higher priority than low mortgage fees or interest rates.

A mortgage could allow them to make capital reductions to coincide with their cash flow and leave other investments untouched. In practice, this can mean lower monthly repayments on an interest-only basis.

We all want to save time for our priorities. Brokers can demonstrate their value by being efficient and finding suitable mortgage options as quickly as possible. Lenders like Investec work on a number of cases for HNW individuals and are familiar with many of the challenges in this space. Please do get in touch if we can help.