FAQS

Equity-backed loans from EquitiesFirst are a flexible and cost-effective way for a borrower, typically with concentrated equity holdings, to use the publicly traded shares it owns to raise capital.* At the end of the loan’s term, an equivalent number of the shares owned are returned to the borrower, who retains exposure to the performance of the stock and its dividend income.  All dividends that the shares are entitled to are applied as a credit against the interest expense of the loan or distributed to the borrower.

This is an alternative form of financing that is commonly used by middle-market companies, entrepreneurs and sophisticated high-net-worth investors. Borrowers from EquitiesFirst have no restrictions on a loan’s use of proceeds and often deploy the capital for purposes including increasing investment in existing holdings, funding new ventures and portfolio diversification.

A non-recourse loan means that, in the event of a default by the borrower, the lender can only use the shares provided to satisfy the debt obligation. The borrower has no further obligations and their other assets are not at risk if they do not repay the loan.

– Flexible financing. You can use the capital for any purpose.

– Cost-effective. You pay a fixed interest rate and can typically achieve a loan-to-value ratio of 65% for your assets.

– Efficiency. The loan application process is completed with funds dispersed to you in a matter of days.

– Security. All transactions are executed using industry standard methods and trusted legal and accounting partners.

– Dividend retention and market appreciation. You gain access to liquidity while retaining all beneficial economic ownership of the collateral.

EquitiesFirst provides single-stock financing to borrowers, secured by publicly traded securities under a repurchase agreement.* A repurchase agreement is a contractual undertaking to sell securities and repurchase them at a different price at a later date. It involves the full legal transfer of title over the securities.

In practice, the transaction is a temporary transfer of ownership – typically for three years – to EquitiesFirst, with the shareholder receiving attractive financing terms in return. We use our proprietary capital to offer these competitive terms and are often able to lend against listed equities that are considered challenging by private banks because of their market capitalization and liquidity.

It is important that you understand that there are risks inherent in such transactions, including the potential for depreciation in the value of your collateral and resulting margin calls. We encourage you to speak to your legal advisor about the terms of the agreement.

No. The funds can be used for any purpose.

At the outset of the loan process, you transfer the title and custody of your equity holding to us as collateral for the duration of the loan. In exchange, we provide you with favorable, fixed loan terms with interest rates typically ranging between 3% and 4% and LTV ratios typically between 60% and 70%.

Your shares are held with one of the world’s largest custodian banks, headquartered in the U.S., for safekeeping in compliance with industry standards. Upon loan repayment, we return an equivalent number of the shares, which means you retain exposure to the performance of the equities involved during the loan term. Full details of our custody arrangements for the loans are disclosed to borrowers ahead of transactions.

During the loan term, the equity holding becomes part of our global proprietary portfolio. The portfolio is rebalanced at the discretion of the investment team, which engages in trading and risk management activities. We do not rehypothecate, or on-lend, your shares.

When the loan is repaid, the full number of shares is returned to you.

EquitiesFirst does not lend or rehypothecate shares and we do not engage in short selling of the shares. EquitiesFirst does not exercise voting rights or get involved in the company’s strategy or management.

No, the voting rights transfer with the title to the shares. However, EquitiesFirst abstains from voting and refrains from any company management decision-making.

This depends on your shareholding, any role you may have in the company and local reporting requirements. We encourage you to undertake your own due diligence to ensure you meet all necessary disclosure requirements.

Please contact us for more information and to discuss your situation.

For equities, we set the margin call threshold at 80% LTV. In other words, when the value of the loan reaches 80% of the value of the underlying equity, we will ask you to transfer more stock to EquitiesFirst in order to bring the LTV back below 80%.

We issue a written notice when there is a margin call event and there will be a five-day period in which to top up. At this point, it is up to the borrower whether they want to top up with more equity, or terminate the transaction while keeping the loan proceeds with no further obligation.

Please contact us for a tailor-made analysis of your situation.

Crypto-based financing allows you to use digital asset holdings as collateral to obtain a fixed term loan in fiat currency or stablecoin. As with equity-based financing, you effectively enter a sale and repurchase agreement with EquitiesFirst for the digital asset, which will be held to secure a flexible, fixed term loan. We will return an equivalent amount of your digital asset holdings with any upside upon completion of the loan term.

At EquitiesFirst, we accept most major digital assets.

Please contact us for more information.

EquitiesFirst is a long-only value investor managing a public equities portfolio that is diversified across global markets and industry sectors. Our method of portfolio construction establishes each position through equity-backed financing provided directly to long-term investors.

Our investment team aims to generate alpha on each position, as any long-only investment manager would, through robust fundamental and technical analysis, risk management and ongoing trading and portfolio rebalancing activity. Our investment strategy does not involve short-selling and we do not on-lend assets to third parties.

As of 31 January 2026, the total loans issued by EquitiesFirst exceeded US$6 billion.

As a global financial institution, managing risk and ensuring regulatory compliance are key priorities. EquitiesFirst protects borrowers through a robust infrastructure that mitigates a wide variety of risk factors and prevents fraud. The measures we take help to safeguard our borrowers, partners and EquitiesFirst itself.

– Regulatory compliance: EquitiesFirst is licensed and/or registered in all jurisdictions as required. To learn more, please click here.

– Portfolio diversification: At any given time, our diversified investment portfolio holds several hundred positions across sectors, geographies and tenors to maturity, helping our portfolio to be resilient irrespective of broader market conditions.

– Security management: As part of our proprietary global portfolio, the transferred shares are managed and rebalanced as needed over the life of the loan. The portfolio is diversified across countries, sectors and time intervals, to ensure discrete and systemic risks are mitigated and well-managed.

– Independently owned: EquitiesFirst does not have external financing or debt, nor do we manage capital from external investors. This safeguards the stability of our capital and removes liquidity risk and contagion risk from our portfolio.

– Due diligence: EquitiesFirst aligns with global regulators and holds itself to the highest standards of internal controls to prevent any forms of illicit activity in the equity To learn more, please click here.

To learn more about how we manage risk, please click here.

EquitiesFirst aligns with global regulators and holds itself to the highest standards of internal controls to prevent any forms of illicit activity in the equity markets.

– The first step in our legal process is a comprehensive onboarding application that requires prospective borrowers to provide thorough personal and corporate documentation.

– EquitiesFirst conducts its due diligence by reviewing potential collateral through our research division, based in the US, Asia and Europe.

– All proposed collateral is investigated from both a fundamental and technical perspective. Key factors include the shareholder base, liquidity, bid/ask spread, latest corporate events, financials and price action.

As part of our AML/KYC process, EquitiesFirst engages World Check as the first tier of diligence on a counterparty. For cases that require more comprehensive due diligence, we may engage the Mintz Group, a global expert in business intelligence.

Applications that fail to meet EquitiesFirst’s due diligence criteria are rejected.

Yes, equity-based financing is regulated in many markets because it involves the title and custody transfer of listed assets. To learn about EquitiesFirst’s licenses and registrations, please click here.

Yes, EquitiesFirst and its regional subsidiaries are licensed and regulated by:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission –  Australian Financial Services License

Hong Kong (China) Securities and Futures Commission – Type 1 License: Dealing in Securities

Licensing Court, Registrar of Money Lenders & Commissioner of Police, Hong Kong – Money Lenders License

Dubai Financial Market, United Arab Emirates – Approved as the first and only REPO Buyer in the region

Financial Conduct Authority, United Kingdom – Authorization to advise on and arrange investments

Note: EquitiesFirst is not required to be regulated in the United States as it does not engage in US securities dealing or advisory.