(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( ) is expanding its lending services to wealthy customers, allowing them to borrow money against collateral on its classic and luxury car collections in Europe, tapping into an asset class favored by the rich.
The Wall Street giant’s private bank will offer customers the option of loans secured by classic, rare or personalized automobiles, physically stored in European jurisdictions such as England, Italy and Germany. The service, already available to customers in the US, will be expanded to France, Switzerland and Spain, the bank said in a statement on Monday.
The lending initiative comes as wealthy individuals use car collections — and other physical assets — as a way to diversify their fortunes, taking advantage of the auto industry’s traditional status as a passion project. Classic cars from European brands like Ferrari NV, Porsche AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG have outperformed stock markets in recent years, and the overall market is still growing in 2024 even amid a broader slowdown for luxury assets.
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High-end automobiles are the most popular luxury asset that younger members of the world’s ultra-rich aspire to personally own, in addition to real estate, according to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2025. This puts cars ahead of demand for private jets, wine and art collections and superyachts.
Among the wealthy betting on luxury cars is Mark Mateschiz, the 33-year-old son of the late co-founder of energy drink maker Red Bull GmbH, who bought British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone’s car collection this year. French father-and-son billionaires François and François-Henri Pinault, as well as technology mogul Xavier Niel, are also backing a project to revive historic French luxury car brand Delage Automobiles, a maker of hypercars that cost at least €2 million ($2.4 million) each.
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“We understand that car collecting is driven by both passion and investment,” Steven Hawkins, head of specialty lending at JPMorgan International Private Bank, said in the release.
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