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Global alternative asset manager MA Financial Group (ASX: MAF) today announced the ASX listing of the MA Credit Income Trust (ASX: MA1), marking its first listed private credit fund.
MA1 provides investors with access to a large and diversified portfolio of MA Financial’s flagship private credit strategies, each of which has consistently delivered strong returns and outperformed traditional fixed-income investment benchmarks since its inception.
Investors in MA1 will benefit from exposure to an underlying portfolio worth over $3.7 billion, which includes 165 private credit investments.
These investments span a range of lending strategies in which MA Financial has built a proven track record and specialist capabilities: direct asset lending, asset-backed lending, and direct corporate lending.
Frank Danieli, managing director and head of credit investments and lending at MA Financial, said: “The listing of MA1 marks an important milestone for MA Financial Group.
“We are seeing unprecedented demand in listed investment trusts (LITs) in Australia, with market capitalisation for credit LITs growing by over 12 times since December 2017.
“Listed investment trusts focused on private credit, in particular, have performed strongly and often trade at a premium to NAV.”
Danieli further said that while the MA1 has been developed with an “enthusiastic market demand in mind”, MA Financial is also placing emphasis on “transparency and liquidity throughout our portfolio selection, construction, and monitoring process”.
“We look forward to expanding our offering to our clients and strengthening our presence as a leading private credit asset manager,” he said.
Private credit gaining popularity?
Broker Daily recently held the Commercial and Asset Finance Roundtable, where six brokers outlined their experiences in dealing with private credit lenders and highlighted the importance of staying vigilant in the face of a private credit “boom”.
Speaking at the roundtable, broker for Simplicity Loans & Advisory, Isabella Constantinou, said clients will “immediately see the value” in offering a solution that’s more efficient and flexible despite paying a little more, as private credit solutions offer.
Additionally, according to Shore Financial CEO Theo Chambers, investors have shown an increased appetite for private credit and that brokers should prepare for increased attention from these types of lenders.
“The amount of development going on in Australia, a lot of this development wouldn’t get out of the ground without private lending. And then also I just think the average investor has become more comfortable with investing in private credit,” he said.
[RELATED: Brokers should stay on their toes amid the private credit ‘boom’]
