Pepper issues $1.1bn RMBS

Pepper Group has announced that it has priced its I-Prime 2020, issuing a record and upsized $1.1 billion residential mortgage-backed securities.

The lender said that all trenches were “well covered”.

Commenting on the transaction, Pepper Group’s Australian CEO, Mario Rehayem, said the lender has completed three securitisations in four months totalling $2.8 billion “while continuing to achieve tightened pricing each time”.

“This strong outcome for our I-Prime program highlights both the existing origination capacity and the quality and performance of our collateral,” Mr Rehayem said.

“It complements our broad product offerings to the market, and we are perfectly positioned to continue to help more customers and grow our market share as the leader in the non-bank sector.”

According to Pepper’s treasurer, Andrew Twyford, the joint lead managers for the transaction included National Australia Bank (NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Standard Chartered Bank, and Westpac Institutional Bank.

“We are appreciative of the strong support from our existing investors as well as being excited to continue to welcome new investors to the Pepper investor family,” Mr Twyford said.

“The deal also further demonstrates Pepper’s ongoing commitment to providing attractive investment opportunities to our global investor base while also delivering against our funding strategy.”

While the transaction did not require involvement from the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), Pepper Group expressed its appreciation for their willingness to participate in the transaction, and their broader support of the securitisation market.

Pepper has issued over $22 billion across 39 transaction since its inception 20 years ago, the group said.

[Related: AFG Securities issues first non-conforming RMBS]

Malavika Santhebennur is the features editor on the mortgages titles at Momentum Media.

Before joining the team in 2019, Malavika held roles with Money Management and Benchmark Media. She has been writing about financial services for the past six years.