Introducing: Hend Abdel Salam, Business Development Manager – Lending

Hend first started as a Business Development Manager on the investment team with Southern Cross Partners nearly three years ago, helping to educate prospective investors about investing in property through SCP. Two years ago, she shifted to the specialist lending side of the business to help scope out good lending opportunities.

Hend has been in the financial services industry since 2010, first starting at ASB part-time while completing her university studies. Her years in the industry have brought her a broad and in-depth understanding across lending and finance, and she brings this knowledge to her role every day at SCP.

She says one of the biggest perks with Southern Cross Partners is that the company is 100% independent, meaning we have the freedom to work in ways that best fit the business and clients.

We asked Hend for her advice when it comes to looking at loan applications:

• Understanding scenarios. We take the time to get to know the people we’re lending to and understand why they’re seeking specialist lending. We have a focus on the likes of people needing to settle an investment property, or developers who can’t prove regular income due to multiple projects finishing at different times. Understanding these reasons are key.
• A clear exit. We need to know how a person is going exit their loan with us, at a set time. Ultimately, it’s about making sure people can repay their loans at the end of their lending term.
• Realistic repayments. We’re looking to see if the person taking out the loan can easily make their repayments with us.
• Valuation. There are a few ways we can value a property. Sometimes we’ll have an independent valuer involved and other times we’ve got enough data from the sale of similar properties. But what’s most important is that we can explain to our investors how we decided on the valuation.

If you think SCP may be able to help, or you want to discuss anything with Hend, you can chat to her on 021 447 926 or hend@scpartners.co.nz.