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February 14, 2023

Delivering £100m of development loans with quality communication and a simpler process: Q&A with Senior Portfolio Manager Katherine Smith

Luke Stevenson Written by Luke Stevenson
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Katherine Smith recently joined LendInvest as a Senior Portfolio Manager in our expanding development team. Here she talks about her experience and why she was attracted to join LendInvest. Learn more about our development team, cases we support and get instant quotes.

What attracted you to joining LendInvest? 

Having taken some time out of the property world after having a baby, I was keen to get back into it because it’s what I enjoy doing. I was aware of LendInvest through previous roles at other companies in the industry and was excited to work for a forward-thinking company who understands that technology is key to making the whole lending process simpler for clients. 

Being a smaller company than my first role in lending was also a huge driver for me because it is important to me to be able to put forward new ideas and have my voice heard. 

What has your journey to LendInvest looked like?

I started my career at Close Brothers Property Finance where I spent 7 years before moving to OakNorth Bank. After taking some time off after I had my first child in November 2021, I spent some time in my family construction business before moving to LendInvest.

What are the key things your role involves? 

My role involves managing an ongoing portfolio of development projects. 

This includes analysing monthly monitoring surveyors’ reports, preparing a report to release funds every month and ensuring that our projects remain on track and on budget. 

If a project is running over time or budget then it is my job to find out why, report that to the relevant teams and adjust the facility if necessary. I am also responsible for onboarding new facilities and undertaking the due diligence alongside a panel of professionals.

You’ve joined at an exciting time for the development team – it’s growing, has announced a new partnership and new rates – what do you expect from the year ahead? 

It is a very exciting time in the development team at LendInvest, with the announcement of the new partnership, this year I’m expecting to be very busy assisting our relationship managers and clients. 

We are in desperate need of high quality, affordable housing across the UK and I’m excited to be working to help SME developers to deliver these. 

What will be key to making all of these exciting things work together? 

We’ve got a great team at LendInvest and that is so important to ensure that the process for our clients is as seamless and effective as possible. 

What do you think good portfolio management looks like?

First and foremost it is about understanding and communication with your client. It is important to understand our client’s needs and how we can best support them to achieve their goals. 

Communication is also so important to relationship-led portfolio management – while our clients and I are specialists in our own fields, in order to work together productively an open and transparent line of communication is a must!

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