Bigger, brighter better for Equitable

Next week heralds plenty of launches in the financial services industry, the most notable being the birth of KiwiSaver.

Friday, June 29th 2007, 6:54AM

One other change, albeit on a smaller scale, is the reorganization of the Equitable Group. The changes, outlined to advisers in a recent series of roadshows, is designed to make the group more efficient and to give investors the backing of a far larger pool of mortgages than was previously the case.

Under the old structure there were a number of entities which all had their own mortgages and offer documents. Each of the three funds had different loan to value ratios and the set up was considered "operationally inefficient".

On Monday all $340 million worth of mortgages will be transferred to one new group investment fund, the Equitable Property Mortgage Fund.

The new fund will have just first mortgages, there will be a standard LVR and some additional product changes.

No impaired loans will be transferred to the new fund and any loans which become impaired in the first 12 months after transfer will be topped up from the fund it originated from.

Chief operating officer Ross Aitken says it will strengthen the group's capital position and make its business more transparent.

"The new structure will make the group easier to rate, which is something we are presently pursing."

Aitken says Equitable was looking at getting a Standard and Poor's credit rating.

Amongst the product changes are changes to maturity dates. Previously all maturities were at the end of the month, not they are tied into the date the investment was made. Also Equitable has added some flexibility by introducing automatic reinvestment. A savings component has been added to its debenture and there are now direct debits for all savings products as opposed to automatic payments.

The changes relate just to the Equitable funds. The company's Tasman Mortgage Fund and Bastion Finance are not part of this reorganisation.

Special launch rates, with hybrid terms, are being offered from next week. These rates are for a minimum amount of $20,000, which is just below the average amount each investor has with Equitable.

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