First Third-Party Sponsored Mortgage Bond Securitization to Build on Blockchain
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 15, 2020 / Saluda Grade Asset Management ("SGAM"), a private alternative real estate investment firm, is pleased to announce it has sponsored a $308 million unrated securitization backed by home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) originated and serviced by Figure Technologies. The transaction, GRADE 2020-FIG1, closed on Aug. 31, and is the largest securitization of HELOCs since the 2008 housing collapse.
As a Saluda Grade Ventures ("SGV") portfolio company, Figure has worked closely with Saluda Grade Advisory to lower its cost of capital and gain access to scalable institutional capital partners. SGV is also invested in Figure's proprietary blockchain platform, Provenance.io, that provides blockchain-powered efficiencies to asset originators and financial services counterparties.
Saluda Grade sees home equity as one of the largest opportunities in today's domestic mortgage market. Nearly $7T of American home equity remains trapped because of strict lending regulations and a lack of convenient borrowing options for the American homeowner. Aiming to solve this, Figure's HELOC product delivers home equity liquidity through a seamless digital underwriting process, and a very fast turnaround for up to $150,000 of funding.
"Saluda Grade Asset Management has now matured to the point where we are able to help support our portfolio companies like Figure through securitization issuance and create more exposure and liquidity in their origination via our GRADE platform," said Ryan Craft, CEO of Saluda Grade. "Figure is one of the most innovative fintech lenders in the market, and we deeply believe in Mike Cagney's mission of disrupting the asset-backed capital markets with blockchain and Provenance. We are honored to be part of their amazing growth story."
The Saluda Grade Opportunities Fund seeks to benefit from opportunities created via the Saluda Grade ecosystem that focuses on delivering alternative lending to the institutional real estate debt investor community. By providing flexible capital in unique formats to their portfolio companies, Saluda Grade has created an accreditive model to fuel growth, while seeking to give debt investors an above-market return in a sector that Saluda Grade specializes in.
About Saluda Grade:
Founded in 2019, Saluda Grade is a boutique real estate advisory and asset management firm focused on the alternative "non-bank" lending sector. Saluda Grade Advisory advises small to mid-sized lenders seeking institutional capital markets expertise and delivering institutional capital to private lenders. Saluda Grade Ventures, the firm's equity investment arm, currently manages two private funds. Saluda Grade Asset Management manages debt funds investing in transitional mortgage loans and distressed securitized product assets.
With offices in New York and San Francisco, the company is driven by a core mission to identify alternative lending sectors needing institutional capital to fuel growth. Its management team has more than 85 years of combined experience in the mortgage and securitized credit space. The firm has deep relationships with both private lenders and capital providers that allow Saluda Grade to bring attractive assets to institutional investors.
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SOURCE: Saluda Grade