Veterans supercharge mortgage startup
A "verified mortgage approval in 15 minutes" will be one of the selling points of a startup home loan funder backed by a group of industry veterans.Australian Mortgage Marketplace Limited expects to be up and running by the second quarter of 2019, and is counting on superannuation funds to directly supply most of the wholesale finance it needs to secure a niche attracting interest from many fintechs.Before then, AMM needs to finalise a capital raise of A$1.25 million via Enable Funding, a crowd-funding platform. This will give AMM a valuation of $12.5 million, with new investors under the offer holding 10 per cent of the company."We're doing securitisation targeted at wholesale superannuation funds," said Graham Andersen, the Barclays trained banker and CEO of what is his second non-bank company.Other experienced operators at AMM include former Pepper CEO Patrick Tuttle on the board, and Kym Dalton, one the principals of Australian Mortgage Securities, a 1980s pioneer in what's evolved into a mammoth sector.It's proprietary approach for assessing and approving loans "makes the process whole," Andersen said."Behind all this a very detailed algorithm for credit decisioning.""Our 15 minute approval is a verified approval, this means that we have taken reasonable steps to confirm" and meet tests on responsible lending," Dalton said.AMM will, however, require the brokers it works with to oblige customers to sit through around ten minutes of educational videos. During this time AMM will have completed its sweep of bank accounts, check credit records and identity.Another planned differentiator at AMM will be "the quality of the data" on the firm's mortgage-backed securities. Andersen said investors will be able to access more granular and location specific data than in typically available in the Australian capital market. Some blockchain knowhow is intended to simplify this facet of its operations.AMM expects to begin funding home loans by the second quarter of 2019 and is setting out to handle $300 million a month in settlements by 2022.No single shareholder holds more than five of the shares in AMM, the offer document explains. Plenty more capital will be needed to support the vision."In order to fund the mortgages and to meet the level of expected growth, further capital raisings will be required, AMM said.