Amicus Finance has announced a £100m mortgage-backed securitisation, which it claims is the first in the UK market made up entirely of short-term property loans.
The Amicus Mortgage Finance 2015-1 is Amicus’ first UK MBS. It will be a regulated non-rated entity with a scheduled maturity date of July 2018, comprising a portfolio of loans with a weighted average LTV of 60% and six 18-month terms.
Amicus chief executive John Jenkins said: “This is a first for Amicus and we believe a first for the UK market. We are very excited to have launched and completed this new transaction. We are in a strong position to offer attractive risk-adjusted returns driven by the quality of our loan portfolios and our track record in underwriting and risk management.
“The UK mortgage market is seeing a sustained and growing appetite for short-term property finance driven by the tightening of mainstream bank underwriting requirements; recent changes to planning laws; and the inability of some lenders to act sufficiently quickly to respond to demand.
“There is clear investor demand for this type of short-term mortgage-backed security. Many institutions are increasing their focus on the alternative finance sector as a means of enabling enhanced returns without taking on large risks. Given the continued appetite for short-term property finance, we anticipate significant growth in demand for short-term syndication of this class of debt through bond issuance.”
“Our intention is to use this successful fund raising to drive our growth ambitions in the short-term lending market which as a whole has grown to an estimated volume of almost £3bn annually, according to industry data.”
Amicus is owned by London-headquartered investment manager Omni Partners.
Brookland Partners and HSBC were advisers and agents to Amicus.
