La Trobe Financial announces ‘record’ pricing for sixth RMBS

“We welcome [nine] new investors to our RMBS program and are delighted by the support we have received on this transaction both offshore and in Australia,” Mr Barry said.  

“With this RMBS transaction, we achieved record pricing on the back of volatile global market conditions and it is the most participated investor transaction we have seen.”

The non-bank lender’s head of debt capital markets, Ryan Harkness, said that with loan originations surpassing $7 billion per year, the RMBS transaction was a “practical step to complement current institutional mandates and [La Trobe’s] nationally and internationally awarded $2.1 billion retail credit fund”.

La Trobe Financial, which is 80 per cent owned by asset management firm Blackstone, has issued $2.2 billion of RMBS to domestic and international institutional investors since 2014.

The lender revealed in February that its retail credit fund has tripled its funds under management over the last three years to more than $2 billion, with its group FUM tipping $5 billion.

La Trobe Financial CIO Chris Andrews attributed much of the retail credit fund’s FUM growth to a rise in SMSF investors.

“Our credit fund is playing an increasing role in portfolio diversification for SMSF investors,” the CIO said.

“Our peer-to-peer offerings have enabled investors to select their investment risk and duration and take more control over their portfolio construction.”

Rival non-bank lender Pepper also recently announced pricing its first RMBS at $1 billion, after attracting strong oversubscription exceeding $2 billion.

To date, the lender has issued more than $11.6 billion of RMBS across 26 non-conforming and prime RMBS issues.

[Related: La Trobe Financial FUM surpasses $5bn milestone]