LiveMore has successfully priced and completed its inaugural securitisation, Exmoor Funding 2024-1.
The simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisation totals £208.1 million of prime and near prime owner-occupied mortgage loans. The transaction was also successfully assessed for the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and Liquidity Regulation (LCR).
Exmoor Funding 2024-1 was rated by S&P and Moody’s and received strong investor demand.
The residential mortgage backed security (RMBS) transaction is backed by retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages and standard mortgages - both interest-only and repayment. It is believed to be the first securitisation that includes RIO mortgages in the UK.
This inclusion of RIOs in the transaction is notable, as take-up of RIOs is increasingly driven by social and demographic changes. RIOs have no specific maturity date but are repayable by the borrower upon sale of the property or following certain life events.
The transaction is covered by LiveMore’s Social Bond Framework and is structured to comply with the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Social Bond Principles.
A second party opinion was issued by ISS ESG. This confirmed that LiveMore’s core business purpose, which is ‘to lend to a target population of later-life borrowers who are underserved by traditional lenders’, is an eligible project category under the ICMA Social Bond Principles. It supports LiveMore’s drive to help reduce inequality and serve a recognised social purpose.
Citi acted as arrangers, and Citi and Jefferies acted as joint lead managers.
Established in 2020, LiveMore is a regulated, non-bank mortgage lender specialising in mortgages to customers aged 50 to 90 plus. It is founded on the belief that if people can afford a mortgage that is right for them, their age should never be an issue.
As a result, LiveMore disregards age and instead assesses a person’s financial circumstances such as their credit history, income - including into retirement - and loan affordability.
Over the past four years LiveMore has expanded its product range to include a wide range of owner-occupied mortgages. It now offers more than 300 products across its range of standard capital repayment and interest-only mortgages, RIO and lifetime mortgages – a form of equity release.
Simon Webb, LiveMore’s managing director of Finance and Capital Markets, said: “This is a notable transaction, not only because it demonstrates the significant growth of LiveMore over recent years, but it clearly shows market confidence in later life lending as a financially sound investment.
“The securitisation plays a key part in LiveMore’s continuing growth and expansion as we work to fill the gap caused by the shortfall in quality mortgage finance for later-life borrowers.”
