Peapack Private announced on 9 September 2026 that it has entered the yacht-financing market with a dedicated specialist team. The New Jersey-based private bank has recruited Jim Velez and Derick Buffum to lead the new business, expanding its lending activities into a category where vessel documentation, valuation and ownership structures can be more complicated than those of a conventional purchase.
The announcement focuses on financing significant yacht acquisitions and existing vessels rather than offering a universal consumer loan for every boat. For owners of 12-to-23.99-metre luxury yachts, it adds another specialist provider to investigate, subject to the lender’s eligibility criteria, credit approval and individual terms.
Two experienced lenders lead the operation
Peapack says Velez brings more than four decades of yacht-finance experience and has previously built and led specialist lending businesses. Buffum contributes experience in credit assessment, underwriting and the structuring of complex transactions for high-net-worth borrowers, giving the business leadership on both client relationships and the assessment of lending risk.
The distinction matters because yacht finance requires commercial expertise as well as familiarity with the asset itself. A lender may understand how a yacht is used but still need to evaluate collateral, a borrower’s wider finances, ownership arrangements and the practical steps needed to close a transaction.
Acquisitions and refinancing form the core
The bank says its services include acquisition finance for new and used yachts, refinancing existing loans and customised structures linked to ownership transitions. Its product information also refers to qualifying international transactions and complex ownership structures, although no universal promise of availability is made for any particular jurisdiction or vessel.
A prospective borrower should ask which boats and ownership arrangements the lender currently accepts before commissioning professional work or signing a purchase agreement. The presence of a new specialist desk does not establish a particular maximum loan, interest rate, term or loan-to-value ratio for an individual yacht.
Liquidity is part of the stated purpose
Peapack frames the service around preserving liquidity and aligning a yacht purchase with the client’s wider financial circumstances. That approach may be relevant to a buyer who prefers not to commit all available cash to the acquisition itself, particularly when the vessel will also require ongoing operating and maintenance expenditure.
Financing does not reduce the purchase cost or remove the obligation to pay interest, fees and other charges. Owners should compare the overall cost of credit with the alternative uses of their cash and obtain professional advice suited to their situation rather than treating borrowing as automatically advantageous.
Documentation deserves early attention
The bank’s yacht-financing information identifies valuation, documentation, transaction timing and ownership structures as factors that may distinguish a yacht loan from ordinary asset finance. Registering security over a vessel can involve the flag state, purchase contracts, insurance and other parties whose requirements need to be coordinated before completion.
Because a yacht may change berth, country or ownership structure during a transaction, an owner should establish which documents will be required and who is responsible for obtaining them. Delays often become expensive when a sales contract has fixed deadlines but the supporting finance and registration work is still unfinished.
The wider advisory network is involved
Peapack says its finance team will work with clients, advisers, brokers, attorneys, insurance specialists and other marine-industry professionals. The intention is to coordinate credit with the practical requirements of buying or refinancing a yacht, while offering access to the bank’s wider private-banking and wealth-management operations.
That coordination is useful only if the different advisers have clear responsibilities and communicate effectively. An independent survey, appropriate legal review and a careful assessment of the yacht’s condition remain separate from a bank’s decision about whether it is willing to finance the purchase.
New and pre-owned vessels are considered
The published product page states that loans may cover new and pre-owned vessels, but it does not publish a blanket vessel-age rule or a list of qualifying manufacturers. Prospective borrowers should therefore ask about the boat they actually intend to purchase, including its build year, flag, condition and intended use.
For a used yacht, a lender’s valuation may differ from the asking price negotiated with a seller. Buyers should allow for the possibility that an unexpectedly low valuation changes the amount of equity required to complete and could require a revision to the agreed financing plan.
Terms must be checked individually
The bank makes clear that all loans depend on credit approval, eligible collateral, documentation and applicable terms and conditions, with additional restrictions possible. It has not provided a standardised public rate card in the September announcement, so no interest rate or repayment estimate can responsibly be inferred from the news.
Owners assessing the new service should request written terms and compare total borrowing costs, early-repayment provisions and collateral requirements with other available lenders. The development is a new specialist market entry, not evidence that a particular financing structure will suit every yacht buyer.
