What this paper examines
The paper sets out the mechanics of net-asset-value lending for family offices: what lenders will accept as a borrowing base, how diversification and concentration tests shape eligibility, how valuation is verified and contested, and what covenant architecture — loan-to-value triggers, cash-sweep mechanics, cure rights — a borrower should expect. It treats the facility from both sides of the table, showing what the lender is solving for and where the borrower retains genuine negotiating leverage.
It also positions NAV facilities against the alternatives a family office might consider when it needs liquidity from a private-markets portfolio: selling positions in the secondary market, slowing new commitments, or borrowing at the holding-company level against other assets. Each route carries a different mix of cost, speed and signalling, and the paper works through the trade-offs.
Why it matters now
Distributions from private-equity funds have been slower and lumpier than many allocators planned for, leaving portfolios cash-rich on paper and cash-poor in practice. At the same time, attractive new opportunities — co-investments, secondaries, private credit — keep arriving. NAV-based lending has moved from a niche GP tool to a mainstream liquidity instrument for sophisticated private wealth, and family offices that understand the structure negotiate materially better terms.
Key questions it answers
- What does a lender actually underwrite in a NAV facility — and why do conservative loan-to-value levels persist even for high-quality portfolios?
- Which portfolio characteristics — diversification, vintage spread, manager quality — most improve pricing and advance rates?
- How do covenants, valuation disputes and remedy mechanics work when fund marks move against the borrower?
- When is a NAV facility the right liquidity tool versus a secondary sale or a pause in commitments?
Who should read it
Principals and investment heads of family offices with meaningful private-equity or direct portfolios; CIOs managing commitment pacing and liquidity; and advisers structuring portfolio-level financing. It is equally useful for wealthy families considering their first facility and for experienced borrowers refinancing an existing line.
How this applies to live mandates
Matchpoint Partners arranges portfolio-level and holding-company financing for family offices and sponsors across the GCC, India and the UK. The structuring questions in this paper — borrowing-base design, valuation mechanics, covenant headroom — mirror the points we negotiate on live NAV and promoter-financing mandates. Talk to a partner if your portfolio is asset-rich but your calendar of opportunities will not wait for distributions.
