Investec Asset Finance: products, deal sizes and access

Investec Asset Finance is the asset finance business of Investec in the UK. The lending company is Investec Asset Finance plc, registered in England under number 2179313 with its registered office at Reading International Business Park. Companies House shows it was incorporated on 15 October 1987, under the earlier name Dynamic Finance, and lists its business as financial leasing.

Investec says the company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for credit-related regulated activities, including hiring. Most of its lending is to businesses, so many agreements will not be regulated consumer credit; its broker page describes its hire purchase as non-regulated.

Asset finance itself is covered in our guide to asset finance: you use a machine, vehicle or piece of kit and pay for it monthly, with the asset as security. This page is about what Investec in particular offers.

Investec's broker page lists six specialist services:

Investec also says brokers can talk to it about corporation tax, VAT and commercial loans. For vehicles such as trucks and vans, it points businesses to Mann Island Finance. Separately, it finances sustainable energy assets, listing solar panels, biomass, on-shore wind, heat pumps, anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power, and it will consider refinancing energy projects that have been running for six months.

If you are weighing the agreement types against each other, our guides to hire purchase and finance leases and operating leases explain ownership, VAT and tax.

Investec says it offers asset finance up to £10 million to SMEs, corporates and professional practices in the UK. For materials handling it quotes a range from £5,000 to over £10 million, from a single truck to fleets across several sites. It does not publish a separate minimum for its other products.

On speed, Investec says that, depending on the size and complexity of a proposal, brokers usually receive an underwriting decision in an average of two and a half hours, with same-day pay-out, and that proposals up to £25,000 go through its auto-decisioning engine. Treat these as Investec's stated averages, not a promise for any particular deal. Every proposal is subject to status and lender criteria.

Its published representative example for SME unsecured loans up to £25,000 is 18.4% APR, based on £10,000 over 38 months at a gross nominal rate of 16.3% a year with a £234 documentation fee, giving £14,608.26 to repay. Asset finance pricing is quoted case by case.

It depends on your size. Investec's page for private companies says it supports businesses turning over more than £25 million with asset finance and its wider corporate banking, and that businesses with a turnover below £25 million should contact a broker to get access to finance.

• Above £25 million turnover. You can speak to Investec's relationship team, alongside its wider lending, treasury and advisory services.
• Below £25 million turnover. Your route is a commercial finance broker. Investec works with brokers through relationship managers and a Broker Portal for proposals, settlements and document uploads.
• Existing customers. Investec directs payment and documentation queries to its own team, and other queries to the broker, dealer or supplier who arranged the agreement.

From what it publishes, Investec is set up for established businesses buying hard assets, from office equipment to plant and machinery and materials handling equipment, and for professional practices. On materials handling, it names construction, manufacturing and transport businesses with warehousing among the users, as well as dealers who offer finance to their own customers.

On its materials handling page, Investec says eligible businesses typically need to be able to meet their financial obligations and have enough collateral to back the finance. The same page notes the risks: if the business cannot keep up payments it may lose the asset, and asset valuations can vary. Our sector guides for manufacturing and transport and logistics cover the wider funding options in those industries.

Investec's FAQs say an early settlement payment includes all future rentals from the settlement date to the end of the agreement, plus applicable fees, with a discount for early receipt. It adds that settling early does not automatically transfer ownership of the equipment to you.

It also says asset protection insurance is a mandatory requirement of its asset finance agreements. Ask for the full cost of that cover, and any end-of-term or option to purchase fees, before you sign, so you can compare the total with other offers.

Put every offer on the same footing before you choose. Asset finance quotes differ in more than the monthly payment, so ask each lender, or your broker, for the same set of figures:

• Total payable. Every rental or instalment, plus deposit, documentation, option to purchase and any end-of-term fees, in pounds.
• Agreement type. Whether you will own the asset, return it, or keep renting it, and what that means for VAT and tax.
• Insurance. Whether asset protection is compulsory, and what it costs if you already insure the kit.
• Early settlement. How a settlement figure is worked out, and whether ownership passes when you settle.
• Security. Whether the lender wants a personal guarantee or other security beyond the asset.

Our guide to APR explained shows how to compare offers quoted in different ways.

Many UK lenders provide hire purchase and leasing, from high-street banks to specialist finance houses, and the right one depends on the asset, your size and your trading record. Our lender directory lists providers by product, from each lender's own published terms, and our guide to equipment finance explains how lenders assess a deal.

• Sale and leaseback to release cash from equipment you already own.
• Business vehicle finance for vans, trucks and cars.
• Asset-based lending to borrow against receivables, stock and plant together.
• VAT loans to spread a single VAT bill.

You can check your eligibility with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A lender's full application may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria. Capzy does not give financial or tax advice.