When news broke out, in the summer of 2022, that Adele had secured a $37.7 million (£27.6 million) mortgage to purchase Sylvester Stallone’s $58 million home in Los Angeles, public reaction was largely one of collective confusion. At the time, Daily Mail article ran the headline: ‘Adele took out a massive $37.7 million mortgage on a new home… despite being worth $138 million.’ One social media user posted: ‘Dummy is paying about half her net worth in the long run. Why not just buy a cheaper place in cash.’
But what pop culture observers might perceive to be financial recklessness, the debt advisers featured in the 2026 Spear’s Index may recognise as a case of capital efficiency.
High-value acquisitions – such as a piece of artwork, a superyacht built by a respected shipyard, a bespoke private jet or a super-prime property – tend to absorb enormous amounts of capital that, if paid in cash, remain trapped until liquidation. Borrowing against these holdings frees that capital, allowing it to generate yield in active investments that often outpace the cost of the loan. As one adviser tells Spear’s, in the world of wealth, debt is less of a ‘financial life-raft’ and more of an ‘instrument of strategic capital allocation’.
Explore other rankings within the 2026 Spear’s Business & Entrepreneurship Indices:
Related
- The best security, intelligence & investigations advisers in 2026
- The best executive search professionals & headhunters in 2026
Themes in 2026
All under one roof
As the scope of UHNW borrowing expands, the nature of debt advisory itself is undergoing a structural shift. The advisers in this year’s Index demonstrate that clients are increasingly demanding single integrated partners, whereas once they might have relied on a fragmented network of specialist brokers for distinct assets. Andrew Robinson established his advisory firm Arc & Co in 2007 before selling up to publicly listed FRP Advisory in 2025, where he serves as partner. ‘We’re now able to provide tailored solutions across real estate, marine, aviation, corporate structuring and forensics,’ he explains. ‘It’s a strong offering, and it broadens our scope of service because we can keep that client under one roof.’
Even for established property specialists, the mandate from UHNWs is rapidly expanding. Geoff Garrett, co-founder of Henry Dannell, notes that his clients are requesting advice on unlocking liquidity from ‘alternative assets’ including fine art and yachts – a surprising evolution given that prime real estate was initially the bedrock of his brand.
Diversifying income streams
The broadening remit is driven largely by the limitations of traditional institutions. Due to strict regulatory constraints, private banks can be less willing to underwrite highly illiquid or internationally mobile assets. It’s particularly helpful for art collectors, New York-based Naomi Baigell tells Spear’s. ‘There needs to be a space where those people that can’t get loans through a bank really have an opportunity to be able to collateralise their artwork.’
She points to non-profit organisations holding valuable artwork as an example: ‘Not-for-profits don’t have any other assets, so a lot of banks won’t lend to them, but museums, by their bylaws, can’t borrow or go into debt for the most part,’ Baigell explains. ‘Opening up the debt conversations to organisations of that nature allows them the capital to fund a variety of projects they need to have without trying to find a benefactor or donor.’
Content from our partners
[See also: Big four auction houses scramble amid $10 billion art market slump]
Similarly, barristers and KCs are elite earners but are routinely turned away by banks by virtue of their non-traditional income, specifically ‘aged debt’ or the excess billed fees awaiting payment from solicitors. Garrett has carved out a unique niche advising this overlooked client base, navigating around the rigid underwriting enforced by institutional lenders.
Power of institutional giants
Yet independent boutique brokers are not holding a complete monopoly on the market. Mainstream institutional giants are fighting back with their consolidated offerings – perhaps none more aggressively than UBS (in June 2026, the bank reported invested assets of $7.3 trillion).
Following its landmark merger with Credit Suisse in 2023, UBS gained a marine financing desk to complement its existing private aviation offering. ‘We now have two pillars to finance luxury assets, and especially for these types of wealthy clients, a lot of them have both assets so it’s great to offer this service out of one team,’ says Frank Volz, the bank’s executive director.
// Illustration: Bob Venables
Crucially, he explains, Swiss wealth managers offer a structural currency advantage over Wall Street rivals like Bank of America or J.P. Morgan. ‘Many banks don’t offer loans in a foreign currency and that’s a distinct advantage we have as a Swiss bank with a strong Swiss franc balance sheet. We’re probably the best source for financing a Swiss franc loan.’ For UHNWs, the multi-currency strategy can be invaluable as it allows them to exploit historically lower Swiss franc interest rates.
Ultimately, debt advisory comes down to making the most out of one’s capital – and perhaps enjoying those assets, regardless of whether they’re a lifestyle choice or a strategic investment decision. As industrialist and art collector J. Paul Getty once famously observed: ‘If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.’ For the wealthy, however, owing the bank can be both a matter of transferring risk and also a simple smart business play.
Click the links below to jump to a section of this article:
- Methodology
- The best debt advisers: some names to know
- The best debt advisers: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best debt advisers: some names to know
Frank Volz
- Focus: Aircraft and superyacht financing
- Position: Executive director
- Firm: UBS
Frank Volz is executive director for aviation and yacht finance at UBS; the yacht practice was integrated into the bank as part of the Credit Suisse merger and now sits alongside UBS’s established aviation arm. ‘It’s great to offer this service out of one team, because a lot of our wealthy clients have both of these luxury assets,’ Volz tells Spear’s.
Zurich-based Volz focuses on US and Canadian clients at the top of the market, financing 30m to 100m yachts starting from €15 million to reaching as much as €400 million for custom vessels constructed by premier shipyards such as Lürssen and Feadship. Because yachts are inherently less liquid than jets, he explains, UBS enforces distinct risk parameters across the two asset classes: capping its yacht financing at 55 to 65 percent loan-to-value ratios, compared to 80 to 90 percent for aviation.
The proposition at UBS is unique, Volz says. ‘Our [approach] is about listening, understanding and then giving the best offer possible to meet the client’s objectives. This is not a product from the shelf; it’s tailor-made.’
Read Frank Volz’s full profile at Spears500.com
Alpa Bhakta
- Focus: Mortgages for domestic and international buyers
- Position: CEO
- Firm: Butterfield Mortgages Limited
Butterfield Mortgages Limited CEO Alpa Bhakta has been head of the Butterfield Group’s UK mortgage business since it was established in 2016. Here, she spearheads the strategy for the prime property finance specialist, which supports both domestic and international clients.
Bhakta has more than three decades of experience in finance. She joined Butterfield Private Bank in 2011, heading up the property finance team and then the European lending unit. Before this, Bhakta spent nearly 10 years at NatWest, and moved to BNP Paribas Fortis, where she led a team providing HNWs with property finance solutions.
Highly regarded in the industry, Bhakta continues to ensure that clients have access to flexible financing solutions and receive the support they need to navigate the prime property market in London and southern England.
Read Alpa Bhakta’s full profile at Spears500.com
Naomi Baigell
- Focus: Art-backed loans
- Position: Principal
- Firm: Baigell Fine Art Services
Naomi Baigell has built her firm, Baigell Fine Art Services, around a growing niche: helping art collectors unlock capital from their collections without selling the underlying works. She places art-backed loans – typically those between $1 million and $30 million – with a panel of specialty lenders.
Rather than relying on a single provider, Baigell matches each client with a lender according to the specifics of the deal. ‘There needs to be a space where people who can’t get loans through a bank have an opportunity to collateralise their artwork,’ she tells Spear’s.
Her role extends beyond making introductions. Baigell stays involved throughout the process, acting as a representative for clients much as an art adviser would. ‘I don’t just say, “Here’s your lender, see you later.” It’s really about managing and checking in.’
Read Naomi Baigell’s full profile at Spears500.com
Jon Urquhart
- Focus: Specialist property lending
- Position: Managing partner
- Firm: D.A.M.S Credit Consulting
When Jon Urquhart established his independent advisory practice in 2026, his focus was on delivering concentrated, high-touch credit strategy to scaling wealth creators. ‘I chose to go off on my own to give more of my time to clients where I can add value,’ Urquhart tells Spear’s. ‘I’m working with UHNWs that have aspirations to grow and scale, and they’re in the halfway house before becoming a family office and a single operation, but they need that concentrated time to get them from A to B.’
Operating entirely through word-of-mouth without marketing, Urquhart embeds directly into his clients’ internal operations. Rather than placing one-off mortgages, he arranges bespoke credit facilities ranging from £5 million to £55 million, leveraging collateral across prime real estate, private credit portfolios and unlisted private company shareholdings.
He advises an ultra-selective roster – with his three principal families averaging £100 million in balance-sheet net worth – acting as a long-term partner to optimise capital structure and unlock liquidity. ‘I add my skill set and values to their operation in support of all of their wider growth plans,’ he adds.
Read Jon Urquhart’s full profile at Spears500.com
The best debt advisers: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
Contact us
- To apply for inclusion in The Spear’s 500, complete our submission form.
- For further information about rankings or entries, please email research@spearswms.com; we aim to respond to all queries within two working days.
- For commercial enquiries and questions relating to enhanced profiles, please contact: sales@spearswms.com
- To keep up to date with the Spear’s 500, subscribe to our magazine, newsletter and follow Spear’s on Linkedin and Instagram.
- If you have missed calendar deadlines for our research cycles in 2026, you can still register your interest for updates about upcoming research and rankings.
- Click here to order a print copy of The Spear’s 500.
