ABS market solid

John Kavanagh

Investor appetite for asset-backed securities remains healthy, as the second issuer in a week completes a transaction.

Consumer lender Wisr has raised A$250 million through an issue of notes backed by amortising unsecured personal loans.

Wisr said Wisr Freedom Trust 2022-1 was priced at a weighted average margin of 223 basis points over the one-month bank bill swap rate.

The A1 notes, worth $132.5 million and with a weighted average life of 1.6 years, were priced at 140 bps over one-month BBSW.

This is Wisr’s second public securitisation. It entered the market in May last year with a $225 million transaction. 

Margins have widened since then. The 2021 transaction was priced at a weighted average margin of 150 bps.

Last week, Plenti Group raised $307 million through an ABS issue. Like Wisr, Plenti entered the public securitisation market last year and, also like Plenti, its margin has widened.

Wisr chief financial officer Andrew Goodwin said in a statement: “With the current market uncertainty, continuing to originate credit assets of the highest quality is paramount, as is the broad support of the debt market.

“We’re extremely pleased with the market appetite and pricing, given the current conditions.”