MA Financial's Mortgage and Credit Platforms Drive an 81% Re-Rate

Fund managers say scaling private credit and mortgage businesses drove a rapid re-rate, before unrelated private credit fears hit sentiment

30 Jun 2026 · 4 min read

Fund managers describing it as a mini Macquarie, MA Financial Group delivered an 81 per cent share price gain in 2025 as its mortgage aggregation and private credit businesses scaled rapidly, before private credit sentiment concerns dragged the stock down through early 2026.

A multi-platform growth strategy pays off

LHC Capital's September 2025 quarterly update captured the breadth of the growth: first-half 2025 revenue up 21 per cent, EBITDA up 25 per cent and earnings per share up 26 per cent. Within Asset Management, 61 per cent of group EBITDA, gross inflows reached a record $1.5 billion driven by private credit demand. In Lending & Technology, 27 per cent of EBITDA, the Finsure mortgage aggregation platform's broker market share rose to 18 per cent, now accounting for one in every nine mortgages written in Australia, while the MA Money loan book expanded from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion year on year with net interest margin widening from 1.1 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

Within Asset Management (61% of group EBITDA), gross inflows reached a record $1.5 billion, driven by strong demand for private credit strategies. In Lending & Technology (27% of EBITDA), the Finsure aggregation platform performed exceptionally well, with its market share of mortgage brokers increasing to 18% and now accounts for one in every nine mortgages written in Australia.

— LHC Capital, Quarterly Report, September 2025

A slow re-rate, then a rapid one

LHC Capital's December 2025 update reflected on the nature of the re-rating: the company had invested ahead of the curve to build scalable platforms, temporarily masking underlying profitability as costs preceded revenue, leaving the market cautious for longer than LHC felt was warranted given the strength of the underlying business. The re-rate, when it came, was described as happening slowly at first, and then all at once, delivering an 81.4 per cent share price gain over the 2025 calendar year.

Property deals and diversified drivers

QVG Capital's December 2025 update credited specific property transactions, led by Chris Lock, head of core real estate at MA Financial, with driving positive earnings revisions and share price momentum, alongside future fees from Rokt and continued strength in MA Money. Centennial Asset Management's January 2026 view described the business as a diversified leverage play on an improving mortgage market, with corporate broking, property asset management and the Finsure platform all contributing inflows.

Private credit sentiment triggers a sharp reversal

That momentum reversed sharply in March 2026. QVG Capital reported MA Financial fell alongside broader concerns about private credit sentiment, drawing a comparison to unrelated US manager Blue Owl's outflows over direct lending bad debt fears, even though QVG argued the geography, investor base, borrower mix and loan type were entirely different. Pengana Capital Group reported the stock down 24 per cent that month, and Oracle Advisory Group trimmed what had become an oversized position as a matter of prudent risk management.

MA Financial has been impacted by private credit sentiment. Private credit has been a wildly popular asset class aiding MAF's asset management business. Blue Owl, an unrelated US based private credit manager, has experienced outflows due to concerns over bad debts in direct lending, however this is a different geography, investor base, borrower mix and loan type to MA Financial. Regardless the share price falls have been similar. We're now being compensated for a risk that hasn't materialised.

— QVG Capital, Monthly Report, March 2026

Individual businesses continue to outperform expectations

QVG Capital's May 2026 update showed continued weakness tied to a slower fund-raising environment for asset management, even as MA Money was confirmed to exceed its initial earnings expectations of $15 million to $20 million. QVG's June 2026 update described the ongoing weakness as a temporary disruption tied to market uncertainty and delayed investor decision-making, arguing such episodes tend to prove good buying opportunities for businesses still growing their assets under management over the long term.