The property experts
Andrew Mitchell, group investment director for the Godwin Group, introduces Godwin Finance
THE GODWIN GROUP needs no introduction. The property development firm was founded back in 2003, and since then it has expanded into property finance through its new investment platform, Godwin Finance.
Godwin Finance, the group’s investment arm, boasts an enviable staff of venture capital specialists, bankers, property experts and accountants, which fits with its objective to source and fund property development projects across the UK.
“Often in the property developer world, property developers tend to specialise and that can be quite risky because they specialise in a particular sub-sector of property market, whereas we work across a whole range,” says Andrew Mitchell, group investment director for the Godwin Group. “The Godwin Group has developed houses for housing associations and large apartment blocks, as well as commercial properties for the likes of Aldi, Lidl and McDonalds, which gives us quite a nice spread of different property sub-sectors which is important for mitigating risk.”
Godwin Finance seeks to mitigate risk even further by sticking rigidly to a few strict rules. Before any project is undertaken, the firm will have an end user agreement in place.
The recently-launched platform already offers two Innovative Finance ISA products – both over three-year terms and invested into a broad spread of development sites.
“We wanted to provide a choice for investors dependent on what level of risk they want to take,” explains Mitchell. “Our platform is open to the retail market as a whole, although we do tend to attract high-net-worth investors and sophisticated investors.”
This early focus on the background of the management team helped Godwin Finance to secure its Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval as an appointed representative under principal firm ShareIn within months. The team and strong compliance support from its principal firm places the company in a great position ahead of imminent changes expected to the industry.
“We like the idea of educating investors on the risks and benefits of investing, because we are very open with our experience and want our investors to be quite cautious about how to invest,” says Mitchell.
As Godwin Finance prepares to make its mark in the alternative lending community, Godwin has some big plans for the future. The platform will soon start investing in projects which have been brought to it by third-party property developers, as a way of addressing the “significant” shortage of funding out there.
“Our property board is quite extensive with every project going through a rigorous selection process, and if the board don’t think it’s a good investment we won’t be investing,” says Mitchell.
With this expertise at its fingertips and the reputation of the Godwin brand behind it, Godwin Finance is the investment platform newcomer that is here to stay.