Australian fintech firm Plenti Finance is sponsoring its first auto ABS transaction, secured by financings extended to prime borrowers, the Plenti Auto ABS 2021-1 Trust.
Plenti, based in Sydney and established in 2012, offers creditworthy borrowers financings for renewable energy and personal loans through its proprietary platform, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
It also offers access to peer-to-peer lending, according to the company’s Web site. The securitization pool is secured by 9,594, with an average contract balance of AU$31,270.
National Australia Bank and the Sydney branch of Deutsche Bank are lead managers on the AU$306.3 million ($225 million) deal, which will issue the notes from a senior-subordinate structure with three senior classes of notes. Used cars account for 65.4% of the pool, while 34.6% are new.
Moody’s expects to assign ‘AAA’ ratings to the AU$262.5 million series A notes and the AU$6.3 million A-x notes.
In one credit strength, the Plenti Auto trust has a very granular pool, Moody’s observed. The 20 largest obligors in the pool account for 0.78% of the pool, while the largest obligors by balance represent 0.05%, according to Moody’s. Plenti Auto ABS doesn’t include a revolving period, reducing the possibility of additional potential loss from replenishing portfolios.
On the lender level, Plenti has a history of losses that are low and lower than its peers. However, as Moody’s point out, since the company was established in 2012, the historical data is limited. In fact Moody’s examined static loss data from Q3 2017 to Q1 2021, only fourteen quarterly vintages.
Also, the loans in the pool have a weighted seasoning of five months, which is low seasoning compared with other Australian ABS deals, Moody’s said. About 65% of the pool has a seasoning of zero to six months, according to data from Plenti.
Broken down by vehicle brand, the Plenti Auto ABS is fragmented, with Toyota accounting for an estimated 17% of the pool, the largest concentration by known vehicle brand. A much larger portion of the deal, about 55% is attributed to ‘other’ brands.
