InterVest Capital Partners has been named Euromoney’s best Islamic leasing house this year in recognition of its investment and leasing experience, sector diversity in specialty finance and strong financial performance.
The New York-headquartered alternative investment firm, led by Michael Gontar, specialises in shariah-compliant investing and asset-based lending, leasing, specialty rental and other structured-finance areas.
Founded in 1999, it now has over $17 billion of committed capital invested in North American and European markets.
As a long-time investor in private markets and specialty finance, InterVest is well-positioned to capitalise on further growth as investors seek to diversify their private credit allocations beyond middle-market lending.
Global investment firm Pimco estimated last year that the US specialty finance market is valued at about $20 trillion – more than four times the size of the US and European leveraged-finance and private corporate direct-lending markets.
InterVest offers investment portfolios drawn from assets originated by its 22 individual specialty-finance platforms, which provide financing across six sectors: venture/small and medium-sized enterprise; consumer finance; equipment leasing and rental; maritime and aerospace; real estate (hospitality); and healthcare and life sciences.
One of the core growth areas has been consumer finance. A standout deal last year was for InterVest-owned Financeit – a leading provider of point-of-sale financing in the Canadian home-improvement, recreational vehicle and retail sectors – which acquired Simply Group, a home comfort equipment and financing provider, creating the largest home-improvement financing platform in Canada.
InterVest is well-positioned to capitalise on growth as investors diversify their private credit allocations beyond middle-market lending
Depending on the sector, the types of financing vary between senior secured, leasing, working capital and secured direct lending, among other forms of credit.
Importantly, lending through a base of majority-owned or controlled specialist platforms provides diversified sector exposure and a broad collateral universe, which is key to constructing an attractive risk-adjusted, cross-collateralized, fixed return profile for investors.
To provide credit enhancement, InterVest and partners also co-invest subordinate equity with investors in the investment vehicle, taking a first-loss position.
The firm returned 7.8% to investors last year and raised $2.8 billion in capital, bringing net assets to $9 billion by year end.
