Montgomery Investment Management has a Distribution Partnership with Aura Credit Holdings.
Aura Credit Holdings Pty Ltd (ACH) is the private credit division of Aura Group. ACH is owned by Brett Craig, Director Private Credit, Aura Credit Holdings, Aura Group and Montgomery Investment Management.
Aura Group was established in 2009 and has over $1.35 billion (as of 31 January 2024) under advice and management. It is a financial services business that provides wealth, funds management, and corporate advisory solutions. It is privately owned by staff members and strategic investors.
Montgomery offers two income strategies. Established in August 2017 for wholesale investors the Aura High Yield SME Fund was named in the top three performing Asia-Pacific-Based Credit Strategies by Preqin Pro in 2020 and in September 2022 the Aura Core Income Fund for retail investors was launched.
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Brett Craig is Portfolio Manager for both the Aura High Yield SME Fund and the Aura Core Income Fund. Brett identified a market gap left by the banks, in the provision of funding to SMEs. With SMEs searching for alternative sources of credit beyond the major Australian banks, investors are afforded a niche opportunity to provide funding with a professional manager filtering the opportunities and assessing the risks.
Listen to Brett Craig and Roger Montgomery discuss why private credit has been the preserve of high-net-worth investors, and why the banks pulled away from lending small amounts over the short term to small and medium businesses. Brett also reveals the Aura Private Credit teams' track record in private credit through disruptive markets, how they navigate rising interest rates and the types of businesses for which they provide lending.
The Aura High Yield SME Fund aims to provide attractive and reliable monthly income with target returns of 9%-12% per annum from a broadly diversified portfolio of loans to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Australia. The Fund has a track record of successful investment in online lenders who provide small short-term loans to SMEs.
The Fund invests in a select group of online lenders across various industries, providing an additional layer of diversification regarding the loans' characteristics in the portfolio and the borrower industry.
By carefully analysing the merits of businesses requiring short-term loans, deep due diligence can reduce risk, while offering an attractive income yield. As of 29 February 2024, and since inception, there has been no loss of capital in the Fund.
Credit income funds lend against the income, working capital or assets of a business. The Fund may invest in senior loan debt securities that are asset-backed SMEs, director guaranteed SME loans, and senior loans to Alternative Finance lenders.
Since its inception in August 2017, the Fund has delivered a 9.62% p.a*. net return to investors in monthly income for 79 months to 29 February 2024.
The Aura Core Income Fund aims to preserve capital and provide stable monthly income and portfolio diversification through exposure to a diversified pool of Australian private debt assets including small to medium enterprise loans. The Fund aims to achieve a Target Return of 3.5%-5.5% per annum above the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Cash Rate, net of fees and costs, through the economic cycle.
As of 8 November 2023, the RBA Cash Rate is 4.35%, equating to a current target return of 7.85%-9.85%[1] per annum net of fees and costs. The Fund’s total return may rise, or fall based on, amongst other things, performance in the underlying loan assets and on movements in the RBA Cash Rate. The Fund’s Target Return is only a target, and the actual return of the Fund may be lower than the Fund’s Target Return.
The Fund aims to invest in a diversified pool of Australian private debt investments that will be made via warehouse securitisation deals, notes or other instruments for business and consumer loans, as well as direct lending to businesses. The Fund provides loan finance to platforms that lend small amounts, typically over the short term to thousands of Australian SMEs. The Fund may invest in high-quality asset-backed SME loans, consumer loans via warehouse securitisation vehicles, mortgage-backed loans, and senior loans, secured against a loan portfolio that provides regular income.
By carefully analysing the merits of businesses requiring short-term loans, deep due diligence can help reduce risk while offering an attractive income yield.
[1] The Target Return is not guaranteed.
*Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance
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Learn more about Montgomery’s partnership with Aura Credit Holdings and Brett Craig in this series of videos.
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Aura Credit Holdings has entered into a Distribution Partner Agreement (Distribution Agreement) with Montgomery Investment Management to distribute the Aura High Yield SME Fund and the Aura Core Income Fund, to its client base. Montgomery may receive a share of the fees you pay Aura Funds Management and Aura Credit Holdings Pty Ltd as well as potential equity in Aura Credit Holdings Pty Ltd ACN 656 261 200 (Aura Credit Holdings), a newly formed company within the Aura Group.