The withdrawal of ING Lease from the UK asset finance market has left a £1.7bn void in lending, including high-end vehicle finance.

Despite being in profit, ING Lease announced on 29 October it would accept no further business after November, with the majority of its portfolio to be run down over the next two years, and leaving what fellow lessor Lombard has defended as an "increasingly important" market.

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With £1.2bn of business written in 2011 and an end-of-year book of £2.7bn, estimates put ING’s share of the £3.7bn of brokered asset finance at 30-45%.

With some car finance brokers channelling 90% of their business to the company, Tim Marlow, owner of luxury car finance broker Bridford, has estimated ING will leave a void of £1bn in funding, although sister publication Leasing Life understands the vast majority of ING’s book is in equipment, not car, finance.

Minding the gap

Although Aldermore and Hitachi Capital are both looking to conduct more business through the brokered market, leasing competitor Investec Asset Finance has already stated its intentions to double its book by 2014 in the wake of the ING extraction.

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Investec already has prestige car finance partnerships in place with broker London Asset Finance and manufacturer McLaren, both arranged before the news of ING’s withdrawal.

Mike Francis, head of Investec Asset Finance, said the firm has "confirmed its continued commitment to the market for broker-introduced asset finance."

Francis added Investec is currently writing £350m in new business a year and aims to expand its portfolio to £1bn following the departure of ING.

richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com