Michael Manashirov is the Managing Partner and COO of Qollateral, where he leads the lending department and writes on luxury asset-backed lending, appraisal, and the collectors’ markets that shape it. His articles draw on more than a decade of hands-on work valuing and lending against high-value assets, so the guidance reflects how these markets actually behave rather than secondhand summaries.

Before co-founding Qollateral, Michael spent six years at a leading collateral lending company, serving clients in New York and nationwide. That experience shaped the reason he started Qollateral: he saw the need for a more engaged, client-centered alternative to the corporate lending model, built on the principle that treating people well should come first. He continues to bring that personal, discreet approach to every transaction.

Across his career, Michael has worked as a loan officer, appraiser, and loan valuation professional, qualifying and appraising fine jewelry, luxury watches, diamonds, gemstones, and precious metals. He is GIA-trained, with diamond grading and gemological expertise that informs both his appraisals and his writing. That grounding is what lets him explain what a luxury asset is worth and, just as clearly, why.