The Intermediary – February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 35
I N P RO F I L E
Instead, he notes, decisions are made
holistically. Alexandrou adds: “We get under
the bonnet of a deal and look at the borrower
themselves. When we make decisions, we
don’t have to go to a big committee in two to
three weeks’ time when the borrower is already
committed to the deal, we have the decision
makers on the front end, ensuring that we make
quick decisions at the start.”
Market opportunities
Alexandrou sees the clearest opportunities for
specialist lenders emerging where mainstream
bank appetite has tightened, and borrower
strategies have become more deliberate. In the
investment market, rising borrowing costs have
reshaped behaviour, particularly for long-term
holders. He says: “There’s been a lot of pressure
on low yielding assets […] many are struggling to
meet interest coverage ratio (ICR) covenants.”
Instead, opportunity lies in creating value and
increasing yields where best possible. Alexandrou
explains: “We focus on supporting clients if they’re
looking to do light to heavy refurbishments,
convert to houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs),
or broaden the asset class,” including semicommercial strategies where yields are stronger.
Supporting those strategies, however, depends
on balancing pace with discipline. When asked
about managing risk, Alexandrou notes that the
most important thing is the strength of the team
around you.
“The starting point is the team line-up,” he
says. “We’ve got a really experienced team, and
I think that’s super important. Totting up the
years, we’ve got over 100 years of combined real
estate experience.”
Crucially, Cohort’s underwriting looks beyond
bricks and mortar. He continues: “We don’t just
look at the asset. We carry weight towards the
sponsor themselves,” he says.
“I think that’s really important. It’s
understanding, are they the right person to back?
And who can deliver the strategy that they’re
looking to do? Because everything’s always a
short-term A to B strategy with bridging.”
Backing brokers
That emphasis on partnership extends into how
Cohort positions itself alongside its intermediary
partners. For Alexandrou, supporting brokers is
not a ‘bolt-on’ to the proposition, but a central
principle. He points first to product development
itself, stressing that getting this right means
ensuring “it’s a product that there’s demand for in
the market.”
That focus then extends into delivery. While
Cohort has built what he describes as “a really
good process,” Alexandrou is conscious that
growth can easily dilute the qualities that made it
effective in the first place.
He says: “As we grow and evolve, we need to
ensure that we maintain a streamlined process,
and we keep what has been imperative to our
success today, which is being nimble and quick.”
Alongside structure, communication plays an
equally important role. “There’s no point having a
really good offering if we’re not out there speaking
to people,” Alexandrou explains, acknowledging
that in the intermediary world “out of sight, out of
mind is a big thing.”
As a result, Cohort invests time in detailed
broker engagement, spending time with
introducers to understand “their client flow,
what their typical demographic is,” and then
mapping Cohort’s appetite against that reality.
As Alexandrou notes, this ensures that brokers
are equipped with “a compelling and competitive
offering for their clients.”
Forward thinking
Looking ahead, Alexandrou frames the months to
come as a period where risk and opportunity will
sit side by side. While inflationary pressure has not
disappeared, ongoing uncertainty around interest
rates continues to weigh on borrower behaviour,
particularly for those approaching the end of fixedrate terms.
He notes that “a lot of people are taking
on mortgages that potentially now they’re
struggling to afford,” while rising construction and
refurbishment costs are also testing the viability of
schemes across the market.
Layered onto this are planning delays, regulatory
change and the implementation of the Renters’
Rights Act, which he describes as “a natural
regulation that we need to keep an eye on.”
Add to that a volatile geopolitical backdrop and
it would be easy for lenders to retreat into rigid
processes and defensive appetites.
Yet Alexandrou believes this environment plays
to Cohort’s strengths. He explains: “There’s a big
opportunity for businesses like Cohort, where
we really get under the bonnet of a deal and
understand the strategy, what the client’s looking
to achieve, the strength of the asset in isolation.
That’s where we’ll start to start to pull away from
the rest of the crowd.”
It is within that context that his vision for
Cohort’s residential business comes into focus:
continuing to build on its reputation in larger
debt quantum transactions while deliberately
expanding into the £1m to £6m space through
ResiOne. As he puts it: “The vision is to become a
market leader in this space. That to me, that tells
me the product has been a success.” ●
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