Briefs: Wide Bay Launches RMBS, Heartland Bank upgraded, long hours the norm 29 October 2014 4:05PM John Kavanagh Briefs, Building society Wide Bay Australia has launched its first issue of residential mortgage-backed securities since 2010. It is aiming to raise A$300 million of funding. WB Trust 2014-1 has a collateral pool made up of 1573 loans with an average loan-to-valuation ratio of 63.9 per cent. Investment loans make up 17.7 per cent of the pool. Fitch upgraded Heartland Bank's credit rating by one notch to BBB from BBB- and held the ratings of TSB Bank, SBS Bank, The Co-operative Bank, Nelson Building Society and the Wairarapa Building Society. Fitch said Heartland's exposure to niche areas of motor vehicle finance, equipment finance and reverse equity loans gave it greater pricing power than the other regional lenders it rated. Heartland, which is a NZX-listed lender, also had greater access to capital than its fellow regional lenders, Fitch said. The hard yakka of working in finance is proving gruelling for Australia's finance elite. Recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley yesterday released its latest Working Hours survey, which shows that 91 per cent of Australia's professionals (in all fields of work) admitted to working more than their contractual hours. Ninety-two per cent of respondents said the extra hours "have some impact, or impact heavily, on their personal lives", with 49 per cent of those affected working in financial services.