The short answer
A Lombard loan is a credit facility secured against liquid financial assets — typically listed shares, bonds, funds, and cash — where you pledge the portfolio as collateral and keep ownership, dividends, and upside while the loan is outstanding. The lender advances a percentage of the assets' value (the loan-to-value ratio) and can call for more collateral or repayment if that value falls. In Singapore, Lombard lending is offered mainly by private banks against a diversified portfolio you hold with them — which is why a single, concentrated SGX position is often better served by a purpose-built share-backed stock loan.
Key takeaways
- A Lombard loan lets you borrow against a portfolio of liquid assets without selling them; you keep ownership, dividends, voting, and upside.
- In Singapore it is largely a private-banking product — you generally need to bank the eligible assets with the lender.
- Advance rates favour diversified, liquid portfolios; a single concentrated stock attracts a much lower lending value.
- For a concentrated SGX-listed position, a standalone share-backed stock loan is usually the better structural fit — sized from SGD 5M upward, negotiated up front, and built to avoid forced sales.
What is a Lombard loan?
The name comes from the Lombard bankers of medieval Europe who lent against pledged goods. Today a Lombard loan is simply a secured line of credit or term loan against marketable financial assets. You pledge eligible securities — listed equities, bonds, unit trusts, structured products, and cash — and the lender extends credit up to a proportion of their value. Because the assets are pledged rather than sold, you remain the beneficial owner throughout: you continue to receive dividends and coupons, retain voting rights, and keep the full economic upside, and the collateral is released back to you unencumbered once the facility is repaid.
The borrowed cash is typically unrestricted — used for further investment, a property purchase, business liquidity, or bridging — which is what makes Lombard credit a staple of private-wealth balance-sheet management.
How Lombard lending works in Singapore
In Singapore, Lombard facilities are offered chiefly by private banks to clients who custody eligible assets with them. The bank assigns a lending value (an advance rate) to each asset class — high for cash and investment-grade bonds, lower for single equities, lower still for concentrated or less-liquid holdings — and lends against the blended value of the whole portfolio. The facility is marked to market: if the collateral value falls and the loan breaches the agreed threshold, the bank issues a margin call, and unmet calls can lead to the sale of collateral.
Two features shape who this suits. First, it generally requires an existing private-banking relationship — the assets sit with the lender. Second, the advance rate depends heavily on diversification: a broad, liquid portfolio attracts a higher overall lending value, whereas a portfolio dominated by one concentrated stock is lent against conservatively, because the bank prices in the risk of moving that single position in a stressed market.
Indicative LTV ranges
There is no single fixed ratio: loan-to-value is set by the quality, liquidity, and diversification of the collateral. As a rough orientation for share-backed financing against SGX-listed positions — the closest reference point to a Lombard facility for a shareholder — indicative bands run roughly as follows:
| Collateral profile | Indicative LTV |
|---|---|
| STI large-caps / liquid blue chips | ~50–70% |
| Liquid mid-caps & Catalist names | ~40–60% |
| S-REITs & business trusts | ~50–65% |
| Specialist / concentrated / lower-liquidity | ~20–40% |
| Tenor | ~6 months – 3 years, renewable |
| Indicative term sheet | 1–2 business days after review |
Illustrative market ranges only — not an offer, quote, or rate card, and not a published LTV grid. Every facility's LTV, pricing and tenor is set case by case after review of the specific counter and holding, and only for eligible counterparties. A private-bank Lombard facility typically lends more conservatively than these bands against a single concentrated stock. To model how the drivers move a range for your holding, use our indicative LTV calculator.
Lombard loan vs. a share-backed stock loan
| Private-bank Lombard loan | Share-backed stock loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Lends against | A diversified portfolio banked with the lender | A single or concentrated SGX-listed position |
| Provider | A private bank (assets custodied there) | A specialist, principal-led arranger |
| Concentrated single stock | Lent against conservatively; low advance rate | Purpose-built for it |
| LTV basis | Portfolio composition, diversification, house lending values | The specific counter — liquidity, volatility, free float, concentration |
| Margin behaviour | Marked to market; margin call within the banking relationship | Defined margin events with cure periods; structured to avoid forced sales |
| Relationship | Requires a private-banking relationship | Standalone; no need to move your banking |
| Typical size | Scaled to the portfolio | From SGD 5M upward, no defined upper bound |
Which fits a concentrated SGX position
If your wealth is spread across a diversified portfolio already held at a private bank, a Lombard facility is convenient and well-priced. But many founders, controlling families, and substantial shareholders have the opposite profile — the bulk of their value sits in one large, concentrated SGX-listed holding. That is precisely where a private bank lends least, and where a specialist share-backed stock loan is designed to help: a standalone term facility sized to the position, with the loan-to-value and margin mechanics negotiated up front and structured to avoid forced sales — without requiring you to move your banking. Any disclosure or regulatory obligations remain a matter for your own Singapore legal counsel; we act as arranger and introducer, not as legal adviser.
To see Lombard credit alongside a stock loan, an outright sale, and broker margin lending, use our ways to raise liquidity, compared decision hub.
Frequently asked questions
01What is a Lombard loan?
02How does Lombard lending work in Singapore?
03What LTV can I get on a Lombard loan?
04Is a Lombard loan or a stock loan better for a concentrated SGX position?
05Do I keep my shares and dividends with a Lombard loan?
Last reviewed 26 July 2026