Briefs: Bendigo and Adelaide and Pepper launch RMBS deals, fixed rate demand returns, housing afford 04 June 2015 4:40PM Banking Day staff Briefs, Two lenders, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Pepper Australia, launched issues of residential mortgage-backed securities yesterday. Bendigo and Adelaide has launched Torrens Series 2015-1 Trust, seeking A$500 million of funds. The issue is backed by a pool of prime mortgages. Pepper has launched Pepper Residential Securities Trust No.14 and is also seeking $500 million of funding. The trust is backed by a pool of non-conforming mortgages. Lee Hatton, new chief executive of National Australia Bank's standalone online bank UBank, has told the AFR she expects rapid growth in its home loan business as consumers get increasingly confident with running their affairs on mobile devices. She was formerly NAB's head of group regulatory strategy and affairs and took over the CEO role in April, following the departure of former UBank boss Alex Twigg to an executive role at Woolworths. According to data released by Mortgage Choice, the demand for fixed home loans was higher in May, making up 18.2 per cent of all loans written, up from 17.9 per cent the month prior. Variable rates, and more specifically ongoing discount home loans, were the most popular accounting for 46.3 per cent of all loans written - up slightly from 44.0 per cent in April. ANZ's New Zealand vehicle, plant and equipment finance unit UDC Finance has reported a ten per cent increase net profit to a record high NZ$28.4 million for the six months to March 31. ANZ cited low loan loss provisions, a seven per cent rise in lending and a fall in its cost to income ratio. Lending to small to medium businesses for trucks (up 15 per cent) and new utility vehicles (up 13 per cent) helped drive the lending growth, which ANZ said was supported by a strong economy and a high New Zealand dollar. Industry Super Australia has appointed Stephen Anthony as its chief economist. Most recently, he was director of budget and forecasting at Macroeconomics. He is also a former Treasury economist and participated in the development of the Future Fund. The Adelaide Bank/Real Estate Institute of Australia Housing Affordability report for the March quarter 2015 showed an improvement in housing affordability nationally, with the proportion of family income required to meet loan repayments decreasing by 0.7 percentage points to 30.8 per cent. In March quarter 2015 all states and territories saw housing affordability improve, with the exception of South Australia where the proportion increased by 0.6 percentage points compared to the last quarter. ANZ is to open a branch in Paris to provide wholesale banking services to French multinational companies doing business in Asia Pacific. The branch will be headed by Jean Barbizet, who has been named as CEO of ANZ France, effective immediately. Barbizet joins ANZ from Barclays Group, where he was responsible for relationships with large corporates, multinational corporations and financial institutions. The Finance Sector Union national executive has decided to increase membership fees for the 2015/2015 financial year by three per cent. According to a statement on its website, the national executive factored in increased operating costs for the next twelve months. The fees are effective from 1 July 2015.