The Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index shows another increase in small business approval rates at traditional banks in January with big banks approving a new high of 24% of small business loans; Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora attributes the increase to optimism over the Trump administration's regulatory initiatives for financial services; loan approval rates at small banks were basically unchanged at 48.9%; the loan approval rate for institutional lenders remained at 63.4%; loan approval rates at credit unions decreased to 40.8%; loan approval rates decreased for alternative lenders, with the average approval rate at 58.5%. Source
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Big banks reported their seventh consecutive month of increased approval rates at 24.1%; small bank lending approvals decreased in February to 48.8% from 48.9%; institutional lending approvals reached a new high of 63.5%; the approval rate for credit unions remained at 40.8%; the loan approval rate for alternative lenders decreased to 58.4% from 58.5% in January and has been trending lower over the past twelve months with February 2016 reporting an approval rate of 60.8%. Source
BlackRock's investment in the Funding Circle SME Income Fund has increased to 15%; meanwhile Aberdeen's ownership has also increased to a substantial share; investments from the institutional managers show the success of the Fund and the confidence in its management; Sachin Patel is the Fund's lead portfolio manager and the Funding Circle SME Income Fund has grown to assets under management of approximately GBP300 million ($383.5 million) following a recent C-Share issuance. Source
Firm has been providing working capital financing for small and medium size businesses (SME) for three years; reported working capital funding of approximately $200 million in 2016 and estimates total funding through 2017 to reach $700 million; firm primarily lends to retail, IT services, business services, media and entertainment, engineering and construction through its flexible working capital financing and Flex Credit product which offers revolving business credit lines of up to $100,000. Source