MA Financial Group launches first listed investment trust

MA Financial Group (ASX: MAF) has announced the launch of its first listed investment trust (LIT), the MA Credit Income Trust (ASX: MA1), with $171 million in cornerstone commitments.

The fund is expected to list on the ASX on Wednesday, 5 March 2025.

The MA Credit Income Trust will provide investors with access to a large, diversified portfolio of MA Financial’s flagship private credit strategies, which have consistently outperformed traditional fixed income benchmarks since their inception.

The fund aims to deliver consistent monthly distributions with a focus on capital preservation, targeting a return of the RBA cash rate plus 4.25 per cent per annum over a rolling 12-month period, before tax and net of management fees and costs. Investments will span Australian, New Zealand, and global credit markets.

The fund is backed by an underlying portfolio of $3.7 billion across 165 private credit investments, diversified across direct asset lending, asset-backed lending, and direct corporate lending – areas where MA Financial has built a strong track record and specialist capabilities.

Chris Wyke, MA Financial’s joint CEO, said: “The launch of the MA Credit Income Trust marks an important step for MA Financial, as we continue to broaden our offering to clients and build our presence as a private credit asset manager.

“We’ve seen enthusiastic initial demand from the market, with the commitment of $171 million in cornerstone capital on the way to our $300 million target for the impending offer period from 28 January to 10 February 2025.

“At the core of our culture is alignment of interests with our investors. Investors will join MA Financial and our staff who have co-invested over $190 million in all MA Financial private credit funds, including $160 million in the underlying private credit funds from which MA1 obtains its investment exposure.”

Frank Danieli, managing director and head of credit investments and lending at MA Financial, said: “MA Financial’s private credit investment philosophy is based around avoiding losers, not picking winners.

“This mindset informs our approach to selecting and structuring investments, constructing our portfolios, monitoring positions, and managing risk.

“In developing this fund in consultation with our key investors and industry stakeholders, we’ve prioritised two key aspects critical to them, being transparency and liquidity. These are fundamental to the investment proposition.

“The fund introduces asset backed lending as what we suggest is a critical component of the investment mix, providing a missing piece for Australian investors, and also what we believe to be the next frontier of private credit globally.”

Ord Minnett Limited and MA Moelis Australia Advisory are acting as joint lead arrangers and joint lead managers for the offering, with MST Financial Services Pty Limited, Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited, and Shaw and Partners Limited serving as joint lead managers.

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Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

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