People familiar with the financial industry have almost certainly heard of Equities First Holdings. Headed by CEO Al Christie, this is a company known for providing unique and trustworthy loan products to businesses seeking capital to fund operations, expansions and other necessities.
What you may not have heard is that EFH has recently partnered with an Asian digital asset platform, OSL. In mid-May, the announcement came out that OSL would become EFH’s digital asset custodian. Read below to learn more about this and what it means for these companies.
EFH’s Transition to Digital Assets
This new move by Equities First Holdings signals a transition to digital assets, which is a first in the company’s history. One of the things that EFH does is create loans that are backed by stocks. Now, with OSL’s help in the digital asset management sphere, this means that EFH can broaden financial product offerings.
And this is one of the biggest reasons why EFH chose to partner with OSL. For the past 17 years, EFH has managed a public equity portfolio, so they needed to bring in the experience of an investment firm capable of handling these types of investments, a task that OSL is very well suited to do.
This is because OSL is a subsidiary of the BC Group. As such, they provide many digital offerings, including software as a service, custody services to international investors, and brokerage services.
Exploring Innovative Lending through Equities First Holdings
EFH is a company with many years of experience in developing and providing innovative solutions to borrowers. This company was founded in 2002, and since that time, they’ve worked under the core values of integrity, patience and discipline. This is where the company sets itself apart from many others in the stock-based lending arena. The thing is, many are hesitant to pursue this type of loan because in the past, some less than stellar lenders have employed unsavory tactics when creating these loans.
Through hard work and strict adherence to their values, EFH has been able to reverse this negative image and become one of the most prominent names in the financial industry. Today, after more than 17 years in business, they’ve completed more than 1,000 transactions, and they have 12 offices in major cities all over the world in places like Bangkok, Hong Kong, the U.K., and the United States.
How Do EFH Loans Work?
These stock-based loans are a relatively new offering that are the brainchild of CEO Al Christy. He first saw this opportunity back in July 2016. The loans that Equities First Holdings offers are backed by stocks as collateral, and they’re designed to help provide working capital to businesses and individuals looking for operating expenses, expansion funds and other types of capital needed to push their ventures to the next level.
All of this came in response to shortcomings elsewhere in the banking industry. Many banks had started reducing the loan options available to borrowers, and that created both a problem and an opportunity. The problem was that many businesses were left either underserved, unable to qualify for loans, or when they could qualify for them, the costs were prohibitively high. Christy capitalized on this opportunity by entering the market with his new stock-based offerings.
EFH’s Rise to Success
Several factors combined have led to EFH’s rise to success. First has been the company’s adherence to their core values, which has created a level of trust between them and their clients not often seen in this industry. With that, EFH is able to tailor make loans designed to fit each borrower personally—and the process is both efficient and transparent. New clients can walk through the process in as little as 24 hours.
On top of that, the costs and the value of these loans are hard to beat. Where many businesses have been priced out of lending, through EFH’s offerings, a borrower can expect interest rates between 3% and 4%, which is substantially less than they might find elsewhere. In addition, these loans have a fantastic loan-to-value ratio that rests between 50% and 75%. This makes these products a great alternative to variable rate loans and other types of products where the loan-to-value ratio isn’t nearly so attractive.
Other News Regarding Equities First Holdings
The partnership with OSL is a major step forward for EFH, and there is another piece of news regarding this company as well. Recently, EFH entered into an interesting new loan transaction with Paul Benhaim, who is the Chairman at Elixinol Global. Elixinol is among the forerunning cannabis companies in the United States. Together, EFH and Elixinol have created a loan that stands testament to the types of creative funding that EFH can offer. This new loan is backed by 17 million secured shares in Elixinol, which should prove a major boon to the company as it seeks to expand its operations.
There are likely more big announcements to come from EFH. This is a company that has been innovating for 17 years, which is how they’ve gone from relative obscurity to where they are today: one of the leading names in the financial sector.