Securitisation transactions over the past month show there is plenty of investor support for the shift in focus among non-bank lenders to areas such as non-prime mortgage lending, asset finance and property finance for self-managed super funds. Intense competition in the prime mortgage market over the past year has forced non-bank lenders to diversify their lending activities. Firstmac raised A$500 million through its latest issue of mortgage securities, Trust Series Eagle No.4. The issue was backed by loans to self-managed superannuation funds. The A-1 notes, worth $400 million and with a weighted average life of 2.9 years, were priced at a margin of 140 basis points over the one-month bank bill swap rate. The A2 notes, worth $60 million and with a WAL of 2.9 years, were priced at 180 bps over benchmark. The B through to F notes were priced in a range between 265 and 700 bps. Firstmac chief financial officer James Austin said the funds would allow the group to continue its expansion in the SMSF property loan market, where it claims to be the pre-eminent lender. Austin said the issue was taken up entirely by real money investors, demonstrating the ongoing investor confidence in the local RMBS market. At the end of August, Pepper Money priced an $850 million issue, PRS38, which was backed by a combination of prime and non-conforming mortgages, and which will be used to support the group’s non-conforming business. The A1 notes were priced at a margin of 150 bps, the A2 notes at 182 bps, the B notes at 270 bps and the C notes at 325 bps. Pepper has shifted its focus to non-conforming lending and asset finance. It has completed four PRS securitisations this year, raising a total of $3.2 billion. In the prime RMBS market, non-bank lenders are paying around 25 basis points more than the big banks on the senior notes of recent issues. Last week, Commonwealth Bank priced its second RMBS issue for the year, paying 105 bps over the one-month bank bill swap rate on the senior notes, which have a weighted average life of 3.4 years. Medallion 2023-2 RMBS raised $2 billion. CBA retained the B notes and did not disclose the pricing. Earlier in the month, AFG raised $750 million, paying 130 bps over BBSW on the A1 notes, worth $675 million and with a weighted average life of 2.1 years. AFG said more than 25 investors took part in the transaction, AFG 2023-1. The A2 notes, worth $42 million and with a weighted average life of 3.8 years, were priced at 170 bps over the benchmark.  The B notes, worth $12.4 million and with a WAL of 3.8 years, were priced at a margin of 255 bps. The C through to E notes were priced in a range from 300 to 630 bps. A busy October continued the trend of recent months. In a recent commentary, Gryphon Capital Investments said that in the nine months to September 30 there were 56 RMBS and ABS transactions totalling $36.6 billion issued in the Australian public markets.  Gryphon said this was the