GlobalCapital’s securitization team was out on Monday at DealCatalyst and Afme’s UK Mortgage Finance Conference 2025.
There was much political angst among participants due to stamp duty hikes and other regulatory and tax changes weighing on the UK housing market, particularly the buy-to-let sector.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The FCA seems enthusiastic about mortgage innovation, and niches of the market are growing. Sharia financing came up as one sector set to grow, alongside bridging and seconds.
That’s not a bad outcome for securitization investors, who seem ready and keen to underwrite new collateral. There was recent evidence of that in the shape of Europe’s first deal to contain Helocs from Waterfall Asset Management and Selina Finance earlier in September.
What was also clear is that there is a lot of cash out there looking for assets. GlobalCapital spoke to several originators at the conference, all of whom felt that if they could get enough scale, they would have their pick of warehousing, forward flows and the public markets. The challenge seems to be getting that scale.
Jonny Jones, chief executive of Interbridge Mortgages, speaking on the second lien lending panel, warned that the conditions might tempt lenders to cut corners. At the same time, he cautioned that his firm was detecting an “increased incidence of [attempted] fraud”.
The need for vigilance, particularly given the deployment of AI, was another of the conference’s big trends. While AI should help boost lending if done right, new tech always comes with new risks.
Elsewhere, GlobalCapital’s newly promoted senior reporter, Tom Hall, detected a buzz in the air — the sound of Apollo’s Dutch leasing subsidiary preparing a debut public ABS.
It follows a landmark warehousing transaction in 2024 that won GlobalCapital’s private deal of the year. That deal, dubbed Project Spyder, was funded by Bank of America, BNP Paribas and Citi and enabled Apollo’s purchase of Beequip from Blackstone-owned NIBC.