Dianne Shepherd, CEO, Homesafe
After years of testing the market, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has finally found a buyer for its Homesafe division.
Federation Asset Management has acquired 100 per cent of the share capital of Homesafe Solutions Pty Ltd.
Homesafe is the sole provider of a debt-free equity release solution for older Australians to access the wealth in their homes, without going into debt or needing to downsize.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has supported the business since its founding in 2005. Federation and an unmamed major Australian bank (via a warehouse) will fund the business going forward.
Cameron Brownjohn, CEO of Federation, said the specialist investment firm “makes investments that meet social and economic needs.”
Federation has a portfolio around $2 billion, including exposure to the child care sector and the NDIS.
Former Resimac CEO Mary Ploughman will chair the new Homesafe board.
Dianne Shepherd has been appointed as managing director. Shepherd has been with the business for 18 years and previously held the position of chief operating officer.
“Homesafe provides a valuable service to many older Australians. With over $2 trillion of residential real estate owned by retirees in this country it is an enormous potential asset class, and we think Homesafe offers the best solution for it. We aim to expand Homesafe’s service offering” Ploughman said in a statement.
“Homesafe serves an enormous addressable market which is currently underserved.”
Under Bendigo’s stewardship, Homesafe has been no great success.
Over its [20 year] journey there have been around 6000 transactions” Brownjohn said.
Bendigo’s accounts reflect revaluation gains (or losses) on Homesafe investments that broadly track the national property market.
In late December, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank executed agreements for the restructure of its Homesafe investments. The transaction included the transfer of the investment properties held by the Homesafe Trust as at 30 November 2023 to the bank.
Bendigo, oddly, has made no announcement to the ASX or the media on its sale of Homesafe.