Elders' property loans at $500m

Elders Finance is the biggest non-bank lender to the property sector with about $500 million advanced, FundSource research shows.

Bridgecorp is the second-biggest, advancing just under $400 million, followed by Strategic Finance with a $250 million loans portfolio, Dominion Finance with $150 million, followed by St Laurence Group, Equitable Group, Capital & Merchant Finance and Mascot Finance with just over $100 million advanced.

This week, two Elders' executives confirmed the $500 million figure, but refused to discuss the report because they had not seen a copy.

FundSource found lenders with advances of just under $100 million included Lombard Group, MFS and North South while NZ Finance, Orange Finance and Mutual Finance had the least advanced.

FundSource's Tim Anderson said the new evaluations were in FinanceWatch, an analysis of finance company debentures aimed at helping financial advisers make good investment decisions.

FundSource also analysed the loan-to-valuation ratio of the lenders, saying it was relevant to property-related loans because it showed what percentage of the value of an asset or property was financed by the loan.

Capital & Merchant had the highest loan-to-valuation ratio, followed by Strategic, NZ Finance, MFS, Orange, North South, St Laurence, Equitable and Bridgecorp. Elders, Lombard, Mascot and Dominion had not disclosed the ratio.  Investors were warned that the policies for valuation of assets differ from company to company.