Firm positions itself as a commercial finance broker amid higher rates and stricter assessments
Non-bank lender Chifley Securities has moved away from private property lending to operate as a commercial finance broker, citing tighter credit markets and rising interest rates.
The firm said the change, which was announced earlier this week, would allow them to offer borrowers a wider set of funding options than a single lending product, as developers contend with higher construction costs and pressure on margins.
Chifley’s lender panel is set to include the big four banks, as well as Macquarie, Judo Bank, BOQ and Suncorp, La Trobe Financial and more than 30 private capital providers.
Caterina Martinis (pictured top), newly appointed managing director, pointed to the compounding impact of rate rises on project feasibility. “Developers are facing rising construction costs, tighter credit conditions, especially after the latest rise in interest rates, and increasingly compressed project margins,” she said.
“The funding landscape has become more complex, with projects often requiring multiple layers of capital across banks, non-bank lenders and private funds to achieve their capital requirements.”
Martinis said the brokerage model would allow the business to compare offers across multiple lenders and tailor structures to individual transactions.
“There is wide gap in the market for a brokerage that truly understands how these funding structures work and how lenders assess risk,” she added. “Many brokers operate purely as intermediaries, while our team has spent decades structuring and approving property finance structures and are equipped to help our clients navigate the complexities, the varying lender requirements to get the results they need quickly and efficiently.”
Chifley Securities expects to settle more than $1 billion in facilities over the year, and is targeting annual settlements of more than $5 billion within five years. The firm said it was still seeing resilience in commercial property and development finance activity, including projects linked to state and federal housing targets.
Martinis, who led teams across SAI Global Risk Management, Westpac and Amazon Web Services, said she is currently building a broking team intended to combine credit experience with transaction execution.
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