U.K.-based investment manager Venn Partners is planning to establish a RMBS issuance platform to fund new mortgage lending in the Dutch housing market.
Venn said it purchased a 500 million ($687 million) Dutch mortgage loan portfolio from GE Artesia Bank, a unit of GE Capital International, according to a press release.
The company said in the press release that its will grow its Dutch mortgage portfolio through primary origination and acquisitions of high-grade secondary mortgage portfolios.
The firm says that it will be the first new issuer of Dutch RMBS since the financial crisis.
“The systemic changes in the Dutch mortgage market, combined with continued retrenchment and constraints on incumbent lenders, provide a positive backdrop for us to build a competitive and meaningful new platform, Jonathan Clayton, managing partner of Venn Partners, stated in the press release.
The Dutch RMBS market is characterised by low delinquencies and default rates, and and isuance has been healthy since the financial crisis: 11 billion in 2012 and 17 billion in 2013. Outstanding issuance totals 68 billion. Currently, new origination is largely provided by domestic banks with a focus on loans which qualify under the Dutch government’s NHG mortgage guarantee scheme.
However, the NHG scheme is now being reduced, increasing the demand for non-NHG mortgages. Venn believes that the creation of an RMBS program “will provide a unique opportunity to build a new lending platform in the non-NHG Dutch mortgage market and to provide a competitive alternative for borrowers.”
