Drawing Liquidity in a Market Drawdown
A sustained market drawdown is one of the hardest settings a major shareholder can face. Asset values fall. Credit gets tight. The usual routes to cash — selling assets, issuing new shares, or normal bank credit — turn costly, slow, or shut off altogether. So it is vital to know which finance tools still work in these conditions.
Why conventional credit tightens in a drawdown
When share markets fall hard, the firms that supply most normal credit grow both more wary and more constrained. Banks feel strain on their own balance sheets as loan-book values fall. Capital buffers set by regulators come under scrutiny. Risk appetite fades across the whole firm. Credit committees tighten the rules on who can borrow. They widen spreads, cut top advances, and stretch approval times. Now take a borrower who is not yet a client with a live facility. In a sharp downturn, new credit for them can take weeks or months. That is far too slow when the need is now. The paradox is stark. The moment cash is most needed is the moment it is hardest to get through normal channels.
Securities-backed lending in a falling market
Securities-backed lending against listed shares does not vanish in a drawdown. Its terms just shift to reflect the extra doubt. In stable times, a lender may advance sixty-five per cent of market value against a given position. When volatility spikes and trading in those shares thins out, that may drop to fifty-five per cent. This matters less for borrowers whose facilities are already in place — secured before the drawdown began. They have their advance already. New borrowers who come to lenders amid market stress must be realistic about the LTV they can get. Set up a facility before a crisis, not in the middle of one. That path consistently brings better terms.
The value of pre-arranged facilities
One of the clearest lessons from times of sharp market stress is simple: have financing in place before you need it. Take a shareholder who completes a term facility against their listed shares while markets are fairly calm. That locks in cash for the full term — usually one to three years. It holds no matter what markets do in the meantime. If the share price falls, the borrower already holds the loan proceeds and can put them to work. If things get far worse, a borrower with a non-recourse facility knows the most they can lose is the pledged collateral. Their other assets stay safe. Planning ahead turns a rushed, chaotic choice into a calm, strategic one.
Deploying drawdown liquidity effectively
Some shareholders raise cash through securities-backed borrowing during a drawdown or ahead of one. They then face a second question: how best to use the proceeds. The options run from defensive to opportunistic. Defensive means holding cash, or near-cash assets, as a buffer against personal liabilities. Opportunistic means using the cash to buy assets at distressed prices once markets have fallen. The right answer rests on each person’s finances, risk appetite, and investment horizon. What matters is that the choice is made with care. The borrower should fully grasp the duty to repay the loan at maturity. They should also take advice from the right financial and legal professionals. Black Haven provides the financing; how the funds are used rests with the borrower and their advisers.
Counterparty stability in a stressed environment
In times of sharp market stress, counterparty risk becomes a fair concern. That is the risk that the finance provider itself gets into trouble. Borrowers should weigh more than the facility’s terms. They should also weigh the lender’s stability and staying power. Black Haven Investments lends as a principal from its own balance sheet. It does not lean on wholesale funding markets, which can seize up in a crisis. Each facility is a direct, two-party contract between Black Haven and the borrower. Its terms are clear and fixed in the contract. No one side can revise them just because markets move during the term. Borrowers should prize that stability at least as much as the headline LTV.
Frequently asked.
01Is it possible to arrange a securities-backed facility in the middle of a market downturn?
02What happens to an existing facility if market conditions deteriorate significantly after drawdown?
03How long does it typically take to arrange a facility with Black Haven?
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