Speed is the essence in the property finance world, and with ‘the best team in the market’, Berti is proud of his staff’s ability to provide HNWs with ‘super-fast’ solutions, having completed more than 1,000 deals in 2016.
‘One of our senior sales team has turned a deal around from Thursday lunchtime to Monday lunchtime — that is exactly the kind of service we aspire to give everybody,’ says Berti.
The CEO of Octopus Property (formerly Dragonfly Finance) says the certainty and flexibility of the financial solution they give clients adds to the firm’s USP. Its ‘energetic’ approach is valued in a sector where many are concerned by the headwinds caused by the tax regime and ‘increased regulation’ in the buy-to-let landscape.
Since the firm’s launch in 2009, Berti says it’s now ‘busier than ever’, managing £700 million-worth of assets.
‘Octopus Group and Octopus Property are growing quite rapidly. We’re not a bank which is one of our key strengths,’ he says, adding that the firm faces fewer regulatory complications and pressures than big banks. Furthermore, the alternative financier offers clients ‘really attractive’ returns via Octopus Choice, the first FCA-approved P2P platform in the UK.
Berti joined Octopus in 2010 after spending a decade on Rothschilds’ banking board.
He spends his spare time swimming with his children off the Kent coast.