IW Capital, a Mayfair-based debt, equity and EIS investment specialist, has launched its first secured debt fund, the first in a series of diversified investment vehicles that form is planning to launch over the coming months.
The launch is in direct response to the increased traction that IW Capital’s secured debt offering has gained in the market.
IW Capital has served the growing arm of the UK private sector for the best part of the last decade, and this first Fund, which will raise GBP4.5 million, will primarily target the high net-worth and family office market. Additionally, it will also be positioned to attract investment from the wider IFA and retail investment arena. The Fund will operate for three years, and thereafter there will be a 12-month run-off period. It will aim to pay investors a minimum return of 7.0 per cent per annum and if returns have exceeded this level at the end of the Fund’s life, then any income or capital gains in excess of this target future will be returned to investors and IW Capital on a 50:50 basis.
Presenting a sector agnostic approach, investors’ funds will be allocated across a diverse portfolio of loans supporting profitable and established businesses. All lending will be secured by a mortgage debenture over the borrower’s assets, and any wider security needs will be met based upon a case-by-case appraisal. Consistent with IW Capital’s robust approach to loan structuring, all lots will include financial covenants and reporting obligations on the part of the borrower.
With the British Business Bank’s latest Small Business Markets Report recently highlighting a further retreat in institutional funding for growing businesses, leaving SMEs with a damning GBP2.3 billion funding gap, the role of nimble, engaging and flexible solutions such as IW Capital in disintermediating SME lending has never been more important.

Luke Davis, CEO and founder of IW Capital, says: “With the ongoing disintermediation of the UK alternative finance arena, we are seeing greater than ever demand from SMEs for more diversified funding options. IW Capital has championed this shift in the industry over the course of the last decade- first through equity and EIS, then with the launch of our debt arm and now with the launch of this new secured fund. It is an incredible milestone for IW Capital, and I’m very proud of the team who have come together to make this all possible.”
