Mortgage specialist Firstmac has completed its second issue of residential mortgage-backed securities for the year and this time it has got the deal away with almost no AOFM involvement.

Firstmac raised A$1.3 billion in the latest transaction, reporting that it was supported by a record 31 institutions – more than double the number that typically invest.

Firstmac chief financial officer James Austin said in a statement: “Our regular monthly reporting of COVID-19 exposures and experience across our portfolio has been well received in the market, creating confidence for institutions to invest.”

Firstmac will pay 125 basis points over the one-month bank bill swap on the $624 million of A1a notes, which have a weighted average life of 1.3 years.

Pricing on the $481 million of A1b notes, which have a weighted average life of three years, was 145 bps over BBSW.

Pricing on the $91 million of A2 notes, which have a weighted average life of 4.4 years, was 190 bps over BBSW.

Pricing on the A3, B, C and D notes ranged between 225 bps and 410 bps.

When Firstmac issued in March it did so with substantial support from the Australian Office of Financial Management. It was the first RMBS issue since the start of the COVID-19 crisis and the AOFM used the Structured Finance Support Fund to take up $189.1 million of the $1 billion issue.

In the latest transaction AOFM support was limited to secondary market support (so-called “switch trades”) equivalent to about 1 per cent of total issuance.

Austin said one feature of the issue was that the investor roadshow had to be done online. Firstmac conducted more than 20 Zoom meetings with investors.

“With no end in sight for international travel restrictions, it seems our investors will be shopping online, just like our customers, for the foreseeable future,” he said.

In a COVID-19 update, Firstmac said 5.4 per cent of borrowers were on fully or partially suspended repayments currently – down a little from 5.6 per cent on May 31.