Credit against what you already own.
The house lends against portfolios, property, and pictures. The loan is written by the people who will hold it, priced once at the desk, and stays on our balance sheet until it is repaid.
- Minimum relationship
- $10,000,000 By introduction.
- Loans sold on
- None Every loan has stayed on the balance sheet until repaid, since 1818.
- Credit committee
- Tuesday mornings In Windsor, since 1911. The banker who brought the loan sits on it.
- Terms
- In writing One page. It does not change unless you ask it to.
We lend our own money, so we look carefully.
A loan here is not an introduction to a lender. It is the bank's own capital, extended against something you already hold, by people who will still be here when it is repaid.
Because we keep every loan, we underwrite once and properly. There is no secondary market to satisfy, so the terms fit the asset rather than a template: a portfolio drawn down over a decade, a house bought before the old one sells, a picture held rather than sold in a bad year.
Terms are set at the desk and confirmed in writing. The rate is tied to a published reference and stated on the letter, and the letter does not change unless you ask it to.
What the house lends against.
Five kinds of collateral the house understands, and one line it does not cross.
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Portfolio lending
Credit against a portfolio the house already holds in custody, so the collateral is reconciled before the loan is written. Advance rates by asset class, stated on the letter: higher for listed bonds, lower for a single stock. Draw and repay without notice.
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Property
Houses in Vermont, Boston, New York, and the places our families spend August. Up to sixty percent of an appraisal by an appraiser we have used before. Interest only where the plan is to sell, amortizing where it is to keep.
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Art and collections
Pictures, furniture, the occasional instrument, held here or on your wall. Lent against provenance and a second opinion, at advance rates that assume a bad year at auction. The house has never had to sell a picture.
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Structured facilities
Around a liquidity event: a sale, a listing, an estate. Credit against proceeds not yet received, against restricted stock, or against a contract that has exchanged but not completed. Priced for the event and unwound when it is over.
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Bridge credit
The house next door comes up before the old one sells. A tax bill lands before the dividend. Short, secured, and written in days rather than weeks, because the banker already has the file.
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What we decline
Anything we cannot value ourselves: unlisted paper we have not read, cars, wine in someone else's cellar, a business plan. We would rather decline early and politely than pretend.
How a loan is written.
Four steps, in the order they happen. The first usually takes an afternoon; the whole of it, a month.
01 A conversation.
You tell your banker what you own and what the money is for. That is usually enough for the desk to say, the same day, whether the house will lend and roughly on what terms. Nobody fills in a form.
02 The collateral review.
The house looks at the asset itself. For a portfolio, the holdings and how quickly they sell. For property, an appraiser we have used before and a title search. For a picture, provenance, condition, and a second opinion on the attribution. Two to three weeks, most of it waiting on other people.
03 The committee.
Credit committee sits on Tuesday mornings in Windsor, as it has since 1911. Four members, including the banker who brought the loan; three must agree, and any one may decline. It is approved by the people who will hold it, which concentrates the mind.
04 Terms confirmed in writing.
A letter sets out the amount, the rate and its reference, the covenants, and what happens if the collateral falls. Nothing on the letter changes unless you ask it to. Drawdown follows within two business days of signature.
Bring us the asset.
A conversation with your banker is usually enough to know, the same day, whether the house will lend. Terms are set at the desk and confirmed in writing.