First listed investment trust (LIT) company from Metrics Credit Partners, MCP Masters Income Trust (MXT), opened to investors on Thursday.
The initial public offering (IPO) was seeking to raise up to $500 million from investors in Australia and New Zealand at a unit price of $2. The offer passed its minimum of $100 million on day one of the offer opening to investors.
MXT would be the first LIT to list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) dedicated to corporate lending and offered direct, diversified exposure to Australia’s corporate loan market, which was usually dominated by regulated banks and difficult to access for non-bank investors.
MXT would provide investors with exposure to a portfolio that reflected activity in the Australian corporate loan market, diversified by borrower, industry, and credit quality. It would have exposure to over 50 individual investments immediately, with a near-term target of 75-100 individual investments.
Base management fees for MXT would be equivalent to fees paid by wholesale investors, while an innovative fund design was expected to result in the quoted net asset value (NAV) at listing to be equal to the subscription price.
The offer was expected to close on 19 September, and was scheduled to list on the ASX on 9 October.
MCP managing partner, Andrew Lockhart, said MXT presented investors the opportunity to access ASX-listed fixed income investment. He also said the IPO was suited to retail and self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) investors, who he said typically had low allocations to this asset class.
Investors would receive monthly cash income with a target yield of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate +3.25 per cent per annum (currently 4.75 per cent) net of all fees and costs, with low risk of capital loss.
MXT has received a “recommended” rating from Lonsec (which would expire once the IPO has listed), a “recommended” rating from Zenith and a subscriber rating from BondAdviser.
