Let’s learn more about Bryony Widdup, her practice, and the UK fund finance market.
I have a background in structured finance and offshore funds, the combination of skills from these fields pointed me in the direction of fund finance many years ago and I have never looked back. The crossover of equity and debt funding makes it an excellent area of finance in which to be involved. Fund finance is fascinating structurally and commercially, with a really thriving international network of industry colleagues and a constantly driving dynamic edge.
How would you characterize the current state of the UK fund finance market, what notable trends are you seeing , and how has your practice been affected?
The market in the UK has really outperformed over the last decade. There are clear trends today arising out of our presence in a very mature market - highly experienced sponsor engagement shaping the deals they need, the evolving nature of the lender-side offerings and overall growth of both complexity and flexibility. This is not just as a result of a greater breadth of product offering, but also within the product types. We have been involved in a higher number of transactions using term loan features and different facility tranches or multiple purposes in recent times than we saw in the market historically.
Based on current trends and recent shifts in your practice, where do you see the most potential for growth in fund finance over the next few years in the UK, and what forces will drive that growth?
There are a couple of broader finance market trends that will drive growth in the next few years.
The first trend is the jurisdictional spread of fund finance products, expanding both into new regions and deeper into markets where they already exist. We have seen an increasing number of ‘many-jurisdiction’ international deals, including English-law governed deals that are pulling in vehicles, assets and funders across Europe, Asia, and South America.
The second trend is financial technology and the quiet revolution going on in financial markets infrastructure. I cover digital finance as well as fund finance at Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, so I also advise on digital assets and blockchain matters as well as my traditional markets work.
Our engagement on tokenized funds work is on a steep upward trajectory this year. Tokenization has the potential to solve some practical frustrations in the short term. he biggest use cases today are liquidity‑related, and to re‑wire the investment fund layer altogether in the longer term.
Fund finance will transform and grow alongside through that shift. Once interests, assets and financing are end‑to‑end digitized and made programmable via smart contracts, the intersection with AI takes fund finance to new places we are only beginning to glimpse.
What book, movie, or TV show would you most recommend to others?
It is really too difficult to pick one! The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy has been my absolute favourite novel since I first read it around 25 years ago, I have returned to it many times, the writing is breathtaking and the story utterly captivating.
In non-fiction, Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed is a really interesting look at cognitive diversity - the retelling and unpicking of historical events to bring this to life offers great insight on leadership and collaboration.
Finally, The Ladybird Book of the Meeting by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris is never far from my desk – a brilliant quick reference reminder on how not to take ourselves too seriously all of the time.