Step One aims to grow second charge offering after investment

California-based Bravo Fund II LP, operated by PIMCO, acquired a stake in Step One along with Credit Suisse Asset Management’s securitized products group with other private investors.

Chief executive and co-founder of Step One, Michael Childress said the funding would allow the company to expand its second charge offering, as well as “explore other specialist lending opportunities with similar characteristics”. He declined to expand on the exploratory areas.

He said that the funding had allowed Step One, which targets prime to near-prime borrowers, to update its product range, including reducing interest rates from 8.9% to 6.9% on variable products.

“Our new products should broaden the appeal of Step One to the broker community and solidify our reputation as a reliable specialist lending partner”, said Childress and said that the lender will this summer be “actively exploring” options to further expand its offering, including introducing new digital tools to enhance the broker experience.

Jameel Jesani, Co-founder and director of Step One, said the equity from the new investment marks the culmination of five years of platform building.

“Step One is now backed by multiple major institutional shareholders and has the springboard to enhance its product offering across the specialist UK real estate and consumer credit space and grow the platform into a premier and innovative multi-product specialist lender,” said Jesani.