Firstmac
Cautious optimism turns nonbanks' minds to funding scale
As recently as 2023, the lingering impact of the term funding facility was making originating new mortgage volume highly challenging for Australia’s biggest nonbank lenders. In August 2024, KangaNews and Natixis CIB hosted sector leaders at a roundtable discussion in Sydney, finding that the conversation has moved back to managing growth – albeit while keeping an eye on a challenging economic situation.
Green RMBS on hold but pieces coming together
Decarbonisation of Australia’s housing sector has been slow to gather momentum and funding the process has made little impression on capital markets. But evolving standards, data availability and definitions may give mortgage lenders the tools they need to build a bigger green securitisation market.
Firstmac claims its new green RMBS delivers step change in materiality
Firstmac says its return to green residential mortgage-backed securities issuance – its second such deal, a private placement like the first – represents a step forward for the asset class in Australia. The green notes in the new deal are backed by mortgage collateral that requires homeowners to reduce their properties’ carbon emissions rather than using building standards as a proxy for emissions.
Securitisation builds an audience for its diversity story
The Australian Securitisation Forum’s 2023 annual conference attracted a record number of delegates – well over a thousand attended – and offered its most wide-ranging agenda ever. The securitisation industry has navigated higher rates and increasing global uncertainty well to date, with record volume printing in 2023 and a notable uptick in collateral diversity. The road ahead may be tricky but the market is facing it with confidence.
Diverse Australian securitisation collateral a safe haven as volatility builds
The Australian dollar securitisation market has continued to offer issuance opportunities for originators of a wide range of collateral despite revived rates uncertainty and an uncertain geopolitical backdrop. Recent issuers from outside the prime mortgage sector note ongoing supportive liquidity, improving pricing conditions and a noteworthy level of domestic investor support.
Autos proliferate
The Australian auto lending market is undergoing a similar structural shift to that experienced by the nonprime mortgage lending market a few years ago: a wide-scale withdrawal by bank balance sheets and a proliferation of new and existing nonbank lenders. Auto-backed securitisation issuance is booming as a result.
nonbank Yearbook 2024
KangaNews's eighth annual guide to the business and funding trends in Australia's nonbank financial-institution sector.
