Family offices and portfolio-backed credit.

For a family office, a Lombard loan is a way to raise liquidity against the family’s consolidated securities portfolio without disturbing the underlying holdings. It funds diversification and downstream investment, bridges liquidity events across generations, and does so privately, within the family’s own governance. The portfolio keeps working; the cash is freed alongside it.

Why family offices use Lombard credit

A family's wealth is often concentrated in listed holdings — a legacy stake, an operating company brought to market, or a portfolio built over decades. Selling to raise cash triggers tax, signals intent to the market, and gives up exposure the family may wish to keep. Lombard credit resolves that tension. It unlocks liquidity against the portfolio while leaving the holdings intact, which suits an investor that thinks in generations rather than quarters. The facility becomes a tool of the balance sheet, not a departure from the investment strategy.

Diversification without disposal

A family whose wealth sits in one or a few names carries concentration risk it may prefer to reduce. Borrowing against the position lets the family fund a broader, more diversified programme — other equities, funds, or asset classes — without a taxable disposal and without surrendering the original exposure. The concentrated holding continues to work; the borrowed cash builds the diversification around it. Managed carefully, this reduces risk at the level of the whole balance sheet while keeping the founding position in the family's hands.

Downstream deployment

Family offices are active downstream investors, and much of that activity is time-sensitive: a co-investment alongside a trusted manager, a private-equity capital call, a real-estate opportunity, or capital for an operating business. A Lombard facility provides flexible liquidity that can be drawn as opportunities and calls arise, without liquidating listed holdings each time and incurring the cost and delay of doing so. Because a private-equity commitment is called down unpredictably over several years, having credit already in place against the portfolio lets the office meet each call on time without holding large idle cash balances. For a programme that deploys steadily over years, committed portfolio-backed credit is often more efficient than repeated sales.

Bridging succession and liquidity events

Generational transfer, inheritance, and estate settlement frequently create timing mismatches. A tax liability may fall due before an asset can be sold; a distribution among family members may need funding before a restructuring completes; an estate may be rich in illiquid holdings but short of cash. A Lombard loan bridges these gaps, providing liquidity against the portfolio until the sale, distribution, or reorganisation is done, without forcing a disposal at an inopportune moment. Used this way, it is a patient instrument that gives a family time.

Governance and confidentiality

A family-office facility must fit the family's governance, not sit outside it. That means investment-committee approval, a clear mandate for the purpose of the borrowing, and defined authority over who may draw and how much. Well-structured, the facility reinforces governance rather than straining it. It is also arranged in confidence: a private pledge is not announced in the ordinary course, and discretion is part of the service — subject to any securities-law disclosure that applies where a holding is substantial. For families that value privacy as much as terms, that discretion is often decisive in how, and with whom, a facility is arranged.

Structuring considerations

The borrower is typically an entity within the structure — a holding company, a trust, or a special-purpose vehicle — rather than an individual. Collateral is usually consolidated with a single custodian so the whole book can be seen and valued together, and the recourse profile is chosen to protect other family assets. Tenor is matched to the purpose, whether a short bridge or a multi-year facility. The right structure aligns the loan with the family's balance sheet and objectives, which is where the work of arranging it lies. For a related use case, see borrowing against a concentrated position.