Yes, that is correct, individual banks do not loan out money they do not have, but the collective system does.
And I gathered that he wants to be separate from that system and therefore not take part in fractional reserve banking.
If he were to explain in detail how he would have 2-3x more reserves than the banks and not take part in the fractional reserve banking system, he would clear up some of the confusion.
In practice this does not happen. And in any case, no one lends money they don't have, as you put it, unless you have strange ideas about what constitutes money.