Many loan types require an initial deposit in order to qualify for the loan. This initial deposit generally means that the loan will be offered at a lower interest rate.

However investors who do not have the cash available can still take advantage of leveraged investing in at least two ways.

First – a few financial institutions, including Solutions Banking and Manulife Bank, offer 100% loans that require no initial deposit from the investor.

Second, if the investor has qualifying alternative equity, such as segregated funds, GICs, or insurance policies, they can potentially use these investments as the ‘client equity' portion of their loan – so again, no ‘cash' would be needed from the investor.