AFS
Celebrating 30 years in business
Incorporated in 2004, AFICO was formed through the aggregation of a number of financial services businesses, the oldest being Automotive Financial Services which has operated for 30 years.
Originally registered as United Financial Services Group Limited ("UFSG"), the company was renamed to AFICO Pty Ltd on the 28 June 2008. The change in name and rebranding of the business was intended to be fresh & bold, to represent the diversity of investments and stay true to our heritage.
AFICO has a history of principal investment dating back to 1988 and over that time its primary investment objective has been to achieve long-term capital appreciation for all stakeholders.
Founded in 1988, AFS is a licensed credit provider that specialises in consumer and commercial loans and leases for the purchase of motor vehicles and leisure goods such as boats, bikes and caravans.
AFS pioneered the specialist consumer non-conforming and mid-prime auto loan market in Australia and has become a well recognised and respected lending institution when it comes to car finance.
AFICO was incorporated in 2004 as a result of a group restructure. As a consequence, AFS became not only one of AFICO's most significant investments but one with a long heritage.
Founded in 1996, UFS is a leading financial services business, specialising in automotive finance and insurance products.
UFS specialises in the provision of aggregation services to licensed finance brokers and credit assistance services to consumer and commercial clients utilising a broad range of credit and insurance products. Via its national footprint, the business provides convenient access to the majority of Australia's finance and insurance institutions.
United Financial Services is dedicated to “providing clients with a comprehensive range of competitive finance and insurance products, delivered with unrivalled personalised service.”
AFICO Pty Ltd (previosuly United Financial Services Group Limited ("UFSG")) was established as a non-listed public holding company for all Autofin Group financial services businesses.
The consolidation of shareholders interests occurred on 1st July 2004 and resulted in all financial services businesses becoming 100% subsidiaries of AFICO, including AFS and the UFS businesses.
AFICO develops strategy to invest in and provide capital to businesses specialising in the delivery of asset finance & credit products for personal and business use.
Drivethru is a technologically advanced, web-enabled, finance & insurance origination and underwriting system that specialises in the capture, submission, management and decisioning of loan applications and insurance proposals.
Drivethru streamlines the origination and underwriting processes and is designed to mitigate credit and insurance underwriting risk through a comprehensive set of business rules that leverage off data-rich internal and external sources.
Drivethru enables efficient workflow practices, improved customer interaction, compliant processes and is designed to ensure credit activities are conducted efficiently, honestly and fairly.
With a growing umbrella of businesses and brands, it was necessary to develop an independent brand for the holding company.
The agreed name was AFICO - an acronym created from the words Australian Finance & Investment Corporation that broadly described the activities of the group.
Whilst the name was created by the founder, Brad Dale, the design work & colour scheme for the new AFICO logo is the creative work of Bearnd Winter of advertising agency, DDI Australia.
In 2012, AFS established a securitised Master Trust to fund its auto loan receivables, with Westpac Insitutional Bank being the senior debt provider. Prior to this, the loan portfolio was funded via a corporate loan with GE Capital.
The Trust has an independent trustee (Perpetual Corporate Trust Limited), security trustee (P.T. Limited) and back-up servicer (AMAL).
Westpac is the Class A Note Subscriber, supported by a highly respected mezzanine funder for the Class B Note, with AFS taking the first loss.
AFS acts as the originator, seller, loan servicer, trust manager, and custodian.
McMillan Shakespeare Limited (MMS) acquires 100% of the shares in the privately held UFS Group represented by United Financial Services Pty Ltd, United Financial Services Network Pty Ltd and United Financial Services (Queensland) Pty Ltd (collectively known as “UFS”).
The acquisition completed 31st July 2015 for a purchase price of $42 million, funded 60% cash from existing MMS cash reserves and 40% MMS scrip.
Founded in 1996, UFS is a financial services business, specialising in the delivery of consumer and commercial finance and insurance products originating circa $370 million in auto and personal loans.
Mike Salisbury, Managing Director and CEO of MMS, said “The acquisition of UFS represents an attractive opportunity for MMS to consolidate our position in the auto financing sector by adding to our existing operations. The acquisition builds on the investment made by MMS early this year (February 2015) via the $115 million acquisition of the market leading business, Presidian Pty Ltd.”
On 31st March 2017, AFICO acquires the Aussie Car Loans group of brands, intellectual property, trademarks and websites from Advantage Broker Services.
The Aussie group specialises in the web based lead generation and loan origination for various forms of asset finance.
The business operates under a number of specialist brands including but not limited to Aussie Car Loans, Aussie Bike Loans, Aussie Boat Loans, Aussie Equipment Loans, Aussie Leisure Loans, Aussie Personal Loans and Aussie Truck Loans. The acquisition also included generic brands such as boatfinance.com.au, boatloans.com.au & carfinance.com.au.
Aussie Car Loans is a well recognized and trusted brand of Aussie Finance Pty Ltd ACN 115 027 140 Credit Representative Number 496991. The business has been operating since 1996 and is a credit representative of Automotive Financial Services Pty Limited ACN 003 622 375 Australian credit licence 383762 (AFS) – a licensed credit provider that was founded in 1988.
AFS increases the efficiency of its current funding arrangements with Westpac by introducing a mezzanine investor with whom it can partner on its next phase of growth.
The mezzanine provider is a strong counterparty that specialises in investing in and actively trading fixed income securities and related derivatives for time frames of three years or longer.
The investment in the AFS AUTO-1 Trust has been made with a notional attachment point of an internal rating of A.
AFICO announces on 10thSeptember 2020 the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) invested $9.5 million into a securitised warehouse trust (AFS AUTO-1 Trust) managed by its subsidy Automotive Financial Services Pty Ltd (AFS).
The AFS AUTO-1 Trust is an asset backed security (ABS) trust that specializes in financing motor vehicles, light commercials and other mobile assets for consumers, businesses and self-employed individuals.
The AOFM invested into AFS AUTO-1 Trust via the newly created Structured Finance Support Fund (SFSF).
The SFSF was announced by the government in March as a $15-billion investment fund, established to support continued access to funding markets for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) impacted by the economic effects of the Coronavirus, and to mitigate impacts on competition in consumer and business lending markets.
AFICO announces the completion of the sale of Automotive Financial Services Pty Limited ACN 003 622 375 (AFS) to Solvar Limited ACN 117 296 143 (ASX: SVR) (formerly Money3 Corporation Limited (Money3 or Solvar)), effective 1st January 2021.
The total consideration paid to AFICO for AFS was $10.8 million in a cash/script deal comprising a cash settlement of $3.24 million and the issue of 2.88 million ordinary shares of SVR to AFICO.
The acquisition secures Solvar $48.9 million in gross loan book value and expands the addressable market in which the company operates. It also secures the seasoned funding vehicle of AFS being the AFS AUTO-1 Trust; an asset backed security (ABS) trust that specializes in financing motor vehicles, light commercials and other mobile assets for consumers, businesses and self-employed individuals.
Solvar Limited aims to boost its product offering in Australia and accelerate its growth in the new, used and commercial vehicle finance segment.
A private investment vehicle associated with the founder of Firstmac Limited ACN 094 145 963 (Firstmac), acquires the Aussie Car Loans group from AFICO, effective 24th March 2021, for an undisclosed amount in a 100% cash transaction.
The acquisition signals the non-bank lender's continued expansion into asset finance following the acquisition of of the car loan brokerage CarLoans.com.au and car-buying service Georgie from ASX-listed vehicle finance and leasing company Eclipx Group (ASX: ECX) in May 2020 for approximately $2 million.
The Aussie Car Loans group specialises in the web based lead generation and loan origination for various forms of asset finance.
Aussie Car Loans predominantly deals in finance for Vehicles but also assists with loans for almost any type of new or used asset including Boats, Bikes, Camper Trailers, Caravans, Horse Floats, Jet-Skis, Light Commercials, Trucks, and Leisure Goods.
The transaction included eight (8) corporate entities noted above, twenty eight (28) trademarks, seventeen (17) business names, seventy five (75) domains, ten (10) websites, sixteen (16) telephone numbers, and a significant customer database with strong lead generation.