As featured in the Wealthnet
written by Katie Royals
The founder and chief executive of Lombard lending fintech Firenze – David Newman – never set out to be a technology founder. In fact, he first trained as a chef before going to university. It was here that the idea of financial services, and wealth management more specifically, first piqued his interest.
Landing at Barclays Wealth Management as a graduate, Mr Newman really enjoyed being involved in “all aspects” of a client’s financial and business journey. This enthusiasm only intensified when he moved to UBS and began also advising clients on Lombard lending.
Speaking to thewealthnet, Mr Newman described how one client used Lombard loans to finance the buying of Tesco Express buildings, adding another line to his business endeavours. Although he would not come back to the idea of making Lombard lending more accessible for some time, the concept always stuck with him.
In 2016, Mr Newman founded his first business – Delio, which is designed to help financial services firms launch and scale private markets activities. He grew this business for approximately eight years and partially exited in 2022 when the business had revenues of approximately £5 million a year.
The plan was to take some time off and he went away with his young daughter and spent quality time together.
But, like many entrepreneurs, after just a few weeks off he was itching to get back to work. It was at this point that the idea for Firenze was born.
With the name coming from a combination of the location of the first ever Lombard loan and his daughter’s middle name (Florence), the premise of the business is simple: to help wealth managers, advisers, and investment platforms complete their client offering with investment-backed loans, without moving custody or meeting traditionally high private banking minimums.
Loans start from £25,000, which Mr Newman believes helps democratise Lombard lending Lombard Lending 101 – What is Lombard Lending?and bring it into the scope of a much wider client base than could previously have benefited.
Given the concept is relatively simple, some might question why others are not already doing this.
To read the rest of the exclusive interview with David, click here.