Non-bank lender upsizes issue from $500m
Non-bank lender Firstmac has taken advantage of a renewed sense of investor optimism with a $1 billion residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issue backed by SMSF loans.
Dubbed the ‘Eagle’ issue, the issue was upsized to $1 billion from an initial $500 million, with Firstmac’s chief finance officer James Austin (pictured) noting “strong support in the market” for SMSF-backed securities.
“This is the largest Eagle trade that we have completed to date and demonstrates growing acceptance within the institutional investor market for our SMSF collateral,” said Austin.
“Pricing was also very good, being at the tight end of historical ranges,” he added.
The Eagle issue comes in the wake of the first cash rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia since 2020, which injected a dose of optimism into the Australian house-buying market.
Austin said SMSF property lending has been “abandoned” by the big banks, leaving non-banks like Brisbane-based Firstmac with a huge opportunity to service the market.
“Our residential SMSF product has been very popular with investors, and it's not surprising. We're bringing competitive SMSF options and rates to a sector that is largely being ignored,” said Austin.
“Building on that, we have recently launched a Commercial SMSF offering, which is also a hassle-free, low-fee product with both variable and fixed-rate options.”
Institutions from Australia, New Zealand, southeast Asia, the UK and the US participated in the oversubscribed issue.
