How can a family office get liquidity without selling private equity holdings?

A family office can raise liquidity through NAV lending, borrowing against the net asset value of its private equity fund interests, co-investments, or direct holdings rather than selling them. Selling on the secondary market typically means accepting a 10% to 30% discount and waiting months to close. A NAV facility from a specialist lender like Nodem Capital can be structured in weeks, preserves the portfolio's upside, and avoids triggering taxable gains.

What do family offices use NAV loans for?

Family offices use NAV loans for new acquisitions and investments, bridging capital calls, tax planning and deferral of capital gains, generational wealth transfer and estate structuring, refinancing bank debt, and funding operating businesses or real estate purchases without disturbing long-term private equity allocations. Single family offices represent approximately 65% of Nodem Capital's borrower base.

What terms can a family office expect on a NAV loan?

Typical terms include facility sizes from $15 million to over $100 million, loan to value ratios up to 30% of independently verified net asset value, interest structured as cash pay or payment in kind (PIK), and durations of one to five years. Nodem Capital typically delivers a term sheet in approximately two weeks with funding in approximately one month, in USD, EUR, or GBP.

Does a family office need a banking relationship to get a NAV loan?

No. Unlike private banks, which typically require moving deposits, custody, and other services before extending portfolio credit, specialist NAV lenders like Nodem Capital provide standalone credit facilities. The facility is secured against the portfolio itself through distribution account pledges and equity pledges, with no ancillary banking requirements.

NAV Loans for Family Offices

NAV Loans

Nodem Capital is an FCA-authorised AIFM (fund manager) providing facilities of $10m to $100m+ to family offices, at a loan-to-value of up to 30% and higher for very well diversified portfolios.

FCA Regulated

Asset manager authorised by the UK FCA

Institutionally Backed

Backed by Lepercq Group

Transaction Scale

$10m to $100m+

Fast & Reliable

Facilities against multiple asset classes

What is a NAV facility?

A family office (FO) NAV facility is generally a term loan in which a lender provides financing (debt or preferred equity) against a FO portfolio’s net asset value.

NAV providers may seek to obtain a security interest directly over investment assets (e.g., a pledge of interests in a subsidiary vehicle established to hold the investments) or a security interest supported by those assets (e.g., a pledge of deposit accounts into which proceeds are deposited).

For plain definitions of the terms used in NAV lending, see our NAV lending glossary.

Read our extensive library of insights and case studies here.

A family office (FO) NAV facility is generally a term loan in which a lender provides financing (debt or preferred equity) against a FO portfolio’s net asset value.

Read our extensive library of insights and case studies here.

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

NAV financing allows a family office to unlock strategic capital without selling assets prematurely via high-friction secondary processes. It is the ultimate tool for liquidity management, whether the need is an acquisition, a capital call, a tax bill or a divorce settlement that must be paid without breaking up the fund book.

Another major attraction of many NAV facilities is that their interest rates are better aligned with the illiquid nature of the underlying assets. Many facilities do not require annual cash interest payments, with lender returns generated through accruing Payment-in-Kind (PIK) interest.

Real estate family offices use NAV facilities to borrow against property portfolios and fund interests without disturbing existing mortgages.

NAV facilities are being used by sophisticated family offices

Family office and entrepreneur financing, structured as a NAV loan

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Private banks and wealth managers increasingly describe this kind of facility as family office financing or entrepreneur financing, and they are describing the same thing: a loan to a family office, an entrepreneur’s investment office or a holding company, secured on the private investments it already owns rather than on cash flow or listed shares. The money funds capital calls on existing commitments, a direct acquisition or co-investment, a tax or estate liability, a settlement, or the build-out of a liquid portfolio alongside the private one. Nothing is sold and the family keeps the full upside.

The difference between a bank and a specialist is in the terms rather than the structure. We lend up to 30% of verified portfolio value, higher for very diversified books of institutional funds, over one to five years, with no requirement to move custody, deposits or wealth management. We lend against portfolios held in the US, Canada and Europe, in USD, EUR or GBP, and we work with the family’s existing advisers. Indicative terms are set out on our NAV loan parameters page.

Real estate family offices use NAV facilities to borrow against property portfolios and fund interests without disturbing existing mortgages.

Questions family offices ask us

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Can I borrow against my private equity fund interests without selling them?

Yes. A NAV loan is secured on the holding vehicle that owns the fund interests, not on the interests themselves, so nothing is sold and no GP consent to transfer is needed in most structures. Facilities are typically up to 30% of verified NAV, from $10m upwards, over one to five years.

Can an individual rather than a fund or family office get a NAV loan?

Yes. Many of our borrowers are individuals with a diversified portfolio of private fund interests held through a personal holding company, often facing a liquidity event such as a divorce settlement, a tax bill or a large capital call. The portfolio is underwritten in the same way as a family office portfolio.

Can a family office borrow against stakes in private companies rather than fund interests?

Yes, where the stakes are held through a holding company and the portfolio is reasonably diversified. Direct holdings are underwritten position by position and advance rates are lower than for a diversified book of fund interests. A single large position is difficult to finance on its own.

How do family offices use the money?

The most common uses are funding capital calls across overlapping commitments, bridging to an expected exit, financing a new acquisition or co-investment, paying tax or a settlement without crystallising gains, and refinancing a cash-pay bank facility into a PIK structure.

Can an entrepreneur’s investment office borrow against its fund commitments to fund capital calls?

Yes. This is one of the most common uses. An investment office with commitments to a number of funds can borrow against the value of the interests it already holds and use the facility to meet the capital calls on those and other commitments as they arrive, instead of selling positions or holding cash idle. The facility is a term loan to the holding company that owns the interests, repaid from distributions as the funds mature. We do not provide subscription lines or capital call facilities to funds themselves; this is financing for the investor.

For the full picture, including a worked example and what to prepare, read our guide to NAV financing for family offices and individuals.

Real estate family offices use NAV facilities to borrow against property portfolios and fund interests without disturbing existing mortgages.

Watch: NAV loans for family offices explained in forty minutes

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Recorded for DC Finance’s family office community in November 2026. It covers what a NAV loan is, how a lender gets from reported NAV to borrowing capacity, five situations where families use these facilities, what they cost and why, cash sweeps and the holdco structure, what happens when things go wrong, and the process from first call to funding. A written version of every section is in our Insights post on the webinar.

Real estate family offices use NAV facilities to borrow against property portfolios and fund interests without disturbing existing mortgages.

Related case studies

Why Nodem?

Founded on the expertise of our CIO, Alex Branton, formerly of Cambridge Associates, Nodem was built to serve the world’s most sophisticated family offices. We combine deep institutional knowledge with a specialised ability to underwrite complex, multi-asset portfolios. Where traditional private banks see friction, we see opportunity, aiming to deliver flexible, tailored term sheets within days.

Nodem is itself backed by a leading family office, Lepercq Group, founded in 1936 as the American Investment branch of Banque Schlumberger. Throughout its history, Lepercq has been driven by three core values shared by Nodem: trust, innovation and flexibility.

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NAV Loans for Family Offices

NAV Loans

FCA Regulated

Institutionally Backed

Transaction Scale

Fast & Reliable

What is a NAV facility?

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Family office and entrepreneur financing, structured as a NAV loan

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Questions family offices ask us

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Can I borrow against my private equity fund interests without selling them?

Can an individual rather than a fund or family office get a NAV loan?

Can a family office borrow against stakes in private companies rather than fund interests?

How do family offices use the money?

Can an entrepreneur’s investment office borrow against its fund commitments to fund capital calls?

Watch: NAV loans for family offices explained in forty minutes

Why are family offices using NAV facilities?

Related case studies

Participate in a pay-to-play round

Bridge an LP anchor commitment

Fuelling Investment Holding Company Growth with a NAV Facility

Wealth Transfer

Refinancing with a PIK facility

Unlock accrued fees

Unlock capital without selling growing private assets

Rebalance Portfolio

Bridging Capital Calls

Funding a Divorce Settlement

Related case studies

Participate in a pay-to-play round

Bridge an LP anchor commitment

Fuelling Investment Holding Company Growth with a NAV Facility

Wealth Transfer

Refinancing with a PIK facility

Unlock accrued fees

Unlock capital without selling growing private assets

Rebalance Portfolio

Bridging Capital Calls

Funding a Divorce Settlement

Related case studies

Participate in a pay-to-play round

Bridge an LP anchor commitment

Fuelling Investment Holding Company Growth with a NAV Facility

Wealth Transfer

Refinancing with a PIK facility

Unlock accrued fees

Unlock capital without selling growing private assets

Rebalance Portfolio

Bridging Capital Calls

Funding a Divorce Settlement

Related case studies

Participate in a pay-to-play round

Bridge an LP anchor commitment

Fuelling Investment Holding Company Growth with a NAV Facility

Wealth Transfer

Refinancing with a PIK facility

Unlock accrued fees

Unlock capital without selling growing private assets

Rebalance Portfolio

Bridging Capital Calls

Funding a Divorce Settlement

Why Nodem?

Looking for liquidity?