Authored by Adam Schwartz (Head of Investor Relations)
Key Takeaways
- Execution matters more than promises: A term sheet is only valuable if backed by actual capital.
- GCI’s model prioritises certainty: Through committed capital structures, a diversified investor base, and agile governance, GCI ensures funding reliability.
- Brokers must ask the right questions: Understanding a lender’s funding mechanisms and decision-making process is essential to protect clients.
- Real-world impact: GCI’s certainty has enabled growth, turnaround, and project momentum across diverse borrower scenarios.
In today’s lending environment, the decisive question is no longer “Can you get a term sheet?” but rather “Can you get a term sheet from a lender who can actually deliver?”
Across Australia, we have seen many instances where borrowers secure what looks like a viable financing path, only to discover late in the process that the lender does not, in fact, have the capital available to deliver. By the time this comes to light, valuable weeks have been lost, leaving borrowers racing to secure funding elsewhere, often at less favourable terms.
For borrowers, the consequences can be severe: missed settlement dates, forced sales, or the loss of a timely opportunity. In this context, certainty of capital has become one of the most important measures of a lender’s quality.
For brokers, the reputational risk is real. Recommending a lender who cannot deliver damages trust and puts client relationships at risk. By contrast, recommending a lender with certainty of capital enhances credibility and builds long-term loyalty.
Beyond the Term Sheet
Issuing a term sheet is easy. Executing at settlement is what matters. Often it is time that kills a deal as opposed to the deal proposition being unsound; this is why certainty of capital availability at critical moments is so important.
Certainty of capital is not a marketing slogan. At GCI we see it as non-negotiable, and it rests on three foundations:
- Committed capital structures
Vehicles with surplus available and/or committed investor capital (as opposed to deal-by-deal funding) enable lenders to fund on schedule without reliance on last-minute syndication or capital raisings. With committed capital, investors have made a binding commitment to provide funding, this means they have set aside capital and are expecting a capital call to invest their money. Failure to fund their commitment can be punitive. - A diversified, aligned investor base
Depth and diversification across investors provides resilience through market cycles. At GCI, our investor base spans high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, multi-family offices and wholesale private wealth advisors. This diversity of funding sources enhances our ability to consistently have available and committed capital and therefore provides brokers and borrowers greater confidence of having a funding partner well into the future. This also goes to the ability to provide borrowers flexibility on term and the ability to refinance at a future point in time.
- Governance and process
Access to the ultimate decision makers, an Investment Committee which is able to meet outside of predefined schedules, an absence of bureaucracy and depth of team experience in providing bespoke solutions should be a prerequisite for borrowers seeking rapid, flexible and bespoke solutions. Clarity on a lender’s organisational structure and decision-making process provides a window into their ability to accelerate the availability of capital to a borrower. When predictability and disciplined execution is a high priority, it instils borrower confidence.
Questions Every Broker Should Ask
To protect themselves and their clients, brokers should look beyond the headline rate from a lender and ask questions such as:
- Is the facility being funded from a committed capital vehicle, or will the lender need to syndicate or raise capital post-term sheet execution?
- What proportion of the lender’s capital is undrawn and available for new deals?
- Who has the decision rights, and how often does the investment committee meet between term sheet and settlement?
- What are the common conditions precedent that delay settlement and how are they managed?
- If circumstances change, does the lender have the flexibility to restructure the deal rather than withdraw?
- Does the lender have a strong reputation in the market (i.e. have they always funded deals where conditions precedent have been met)?
Certainty in Action
Certainty of capital is not just theoretical, it is the foundation on which deals are executed and capital availability transforms outcomes for borrowers. GCI have invested over $1.4 billion in capital and have never failed to fund a deal once we issued a term sheet and conditions precedent were met.
Our committed capital fund structures, diversified investor base, and disciplined decision-making processes allow us to deliver certainty when it matters most.
Recent examples include:
- Unlocking growth from unusual assets
An infrastructure construction business needed liquidity, but its specialised equipment across multiple jurisdictions was difficult to finance. Certainty came from our ability to navigate asset complexity and fund without delay.
- Driving project momentum
A residential developer faced pressure to complete subdivision works but was constrained by timing and presale hurdles. Certainty was achieved by having the flexibility to align capital to the project timeline and fund the continuation of the project.
- Supporting operational turnaround
A mid-sized FMCG supplier to major supermarkets needed breathing room to recover from COVID-19 and flood impacts. Certainty of funding to a business under stress gave management time to restore cash flow and sell non-core assets.
Delivering upon a term sheet is critical, however, these scenarios also demonstrate that lenders must be able to tailor solutions that deal with complexity and can align with borrower needs.
At GCI, certainty of capital is core to how we operate every day. It is why brokers can recommend us with confidence, and why borrowers can move forward knowing that their financing will be delivered when it is required.
If you would like to discuss how GCI’s certainty of capital can support your next transaction, our team would welcome a conversation.