AMICUS LAUNCHES £100m SECURITISATION OF SHORT-TERM PROPERTY LOANS

Amicus Finance Plc (“Amicus”), a leading specialist in short term lending solutions, has announced that it has completed a £100m short-term mortgage-backed securitisation. 

Amicus believes that the transaction is the first securitisation in the UK market made up entirely of short term property loans, providing investors with attractive risk-adjusted returns through exposure to predominantly first-lien UK property loans.

Amicus’ first UK MBS (mortgage-backed security), Amicus Mortgage Finance 2015-1 is a regulated non-rated entity with a scheduled maturity  of July 2018, comprising a portfolio of quality short term loans with a weighted average loan to value of 60%; the term of the loans ranges from 6-18 months.

John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus commented: “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.”

Brookland Partners LLP and HSBC were advisers and agents to Amicus.  Amicus is owned by Omni Partners LLP, the London-headquartered investment manager.

New online gambling incubator hopes to encourage start-up collaboration - mLabs seeks to showcase new start-ups and entrepreneurs

Cork, 24 August, 2015: Entrepreneurs and start-ups looking to gain entry to the online gambling sector are being invited by betting exchange innovator Matchbook to join a new online community incubator called mLabs.

As part of the new accelerator programme, Matchbook will handpick and mentor start-ups in the hope that it can develop and nurture ideas through to product launch.

David Mills, head of research at Matchbook and in charge of the mLabs project, said the hope was that through collaboration mLabs.io will help jump start new ventures and guide entrepreneurs through the process of getting a business up-and-running in the gambling sector.

“mLabs is a community where like-minded people can share their ideas, help each other, improve, grow, collaborate and see their ideas evolve together,” said Mills. “We see incubation as a two-way process.”

Helping to overcome the challenges

The mLabs project places particular emphasis on getting advice. “Successful and innovative businesses tend to make wholesale changes to their ideas before hitting on a successful formula,” said Mills. “Talking to others who have been through a similar process is always beneficial.”

Matchbook hopes that by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of product offerings, it can provide insight about getting to market and the challenges faced. One of these is the need to ensure any new product is compliant with the relevant regulations. Mills notes that in other tech sectors, it is easier to release a beta product, test it, and see how it develops, whereas with gambling there is more process involved.

“We think we can advise in this area,” says Mills. “We can make an often painful process slightly less time-consuming, and hopefully help companies avoid the bigger regulatory pitfalls.”

More than just an ‘About Us’ page

Matchbook and mLabs believe that the success of any new business will depend on the skills, vision and belief of the management team. mLabs.io is about taking a company beyond an ‘about us’ page on a website and truly showcasing the people behind the venture.

“Companies are made of people,” said Mills. “People have stories to tell, and we want entrepreneurs to share their stories at mLabs.”

Matchbook and mLabs are taking their cue from social media and plan to use the power of networking to perform the role of new business matchmaker between the gaming industry and the wider tech world.

“Everyone uses social networks,” says Mills. “Our era is defined by them. But when it comes to relevant networking in order to collaborate it is extremely difficult to find like-minded people. We feel we can be the facilitator; we take funding and money off the table and focus on what really matters: innovation and new ideas.”

Matchbook is seeking out new start-ups and entrepreneurs to join the mLabs project. The mLabs website will become the premier forum for companies and individuals to express ideas and receive feedback. It will actively encourage option and participation.

Already working with mLabs is DiscountIF, a social e-commerce platform rewarding customers with cashback on events they follow. It was founded and launched by ex-Betfair leaders, and aims to leverage their experience from the gambling space into the e-commerce industry.

Chief executive Lewis Holland said about mLabs that what he likes was that it was about sharing both challenges and success. “We see mLabs as an online start-up incubator without any strict commitments by either party.”

Mills added that the link-up with DiscountIF was an example of how the collaborative magic could happen for others. “The teaming up of Matchbook and DiscountIF, via mLabs, shows how our experiment might bear fruit quite quickly.”

Entrepreneurs and start-ups that are interested in talking to mLabs should in the first instance contact David Mills at [email protected] or visit the website mlabs.io.

LCP Launches Super Fund, LCA III, with a seed portfolio of 50 properties targeting PCL's Private Rented Sector 

The tax increases on residential property introduced in successive UK Budgets may have made properties in the capital worth more than £1m even more eye-wateringly expensive. But that does not mean you can’t enjoy the rewards of becoming a property magnate.

LCP has just announced the launch of their “super” fund, London Central Apartments III (LCA III). Like their other funds, LCA III is a publicly quoted company that invests exclusively in the mainstream private rented sector in Prime Central London. However, unlike its other funds,  this latest opportunity offers investors shares in a seed portfolio of around 50 properties across some of the capital’s most desirable postcodes.

Making a large portfolio available from the beginning of the investment cycle presents a particularly exciting opportunity to investors. Not only will investors’ shares be clocking up capital returns immediately, but the portfolio provides a tangible, existing asset base with a proven track record and secure tenant covenants.

After the planned equity raise, LCP will continue to expand the portfolio, acquiring, renovating, letting and managing a combination of studio, one- and two-bedroom units.

These smaller properties form the bedrock of Prime Central London’s rental market and are attractively priced at a level where the recent changes in stamp duty rates helps, rather than hurts. As the properties are being let on a commercial basis – primarily to blue-chip tenants, they also do not fall foul of the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings, which takes aim at owner-occupiers.

Investors’ interests may be further piqued by the fact that the “genuine diversity of ownership” of LCA III means it is exempt from a slew of new taxes which buyers acting on their own will now pay. It is free from both the new capital gains charges levied on non-residents and the non-domiciled inheritance tax soon to be applied to all privately owned residential property in the UK, whether or not it is held in an offshore vehicle. As an investment company, it will benefit from lower levels of tax on rental income than those imposed upon private landlords. British investors can also enjoy tax benefits by investing through their SIPPs and ISAs.

LCA III is targeting a £100m fund raise and is projecting returns in excess of 10% per annum over a five-year period. It is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and is listed on the Channel Islands Securities Exchange.

While the minimum subscription is set at £75,000 for direct investors, there is no similar limit for investment into this vehicle when made through a regulated entity such as the manager of a SIPP, SSAS or an ISA. LCA III is also sharia-compliant.