AltFi reports that SME Finance Forum member BNP Paribas Asset Management has completed its first UK loan on its new SME lending platform.

The loan, a six year senior unsecured amortising loan, was made to a specialist recruitment services company based in the West of England.

BNPP AM says investing in its SME alternative financing offers its client base a "differentiated and unique access" to SME lending as an asset class. It also has a warehousing capacity that enables it to immediately start granting loans, with the typical loan size being between £500,000 and £5m.

Also read additional insight on BNP Paribas's SME lending strategies, which will be focused on ticket sizes of £500k to £5m across Europe. By doing so, it won't be competing with the digital SME lenders which predominantly focus on the ticket sizes below £250K.