Non-bank lender Bluestone has made changes to its SMSF loans by removing the minimum requirement for liquidity following requests from its broker network.
Bluestone stated that from 24 October the minimum requirement for liquidity in the SMSF fund after settlement, which was previously 5 per cent, had been removed and would give brokers more options when structuring deals for clients.
“These improvements have been long desired by brokers and now help to position Bluestone as the go-to non-standard lender for the channel, with easier access to products and a greater ability to find solutions for customers,” it said.
Bluestone chief sales officer Tony MacRae said the policy improvement would be attractive to SMSFs that may be holding loans at higher rates than those currently on offer.
“With our SMSF residential loan now having no minimum requirement for liquidity, it’s the perfect time for brokers to see how Bluestone can help their customers with SMSF loans,” MacRae said.
“We see a good number of SMSF loans being charged interest in excess of 10 per cent that are then refinanced over to us at a rate as low as 6.89 per cent.”
In September, Bluestone head of specialised distribution Richard Chesworth told selfmanagedsuper that unreviewed limited recourse borrowing arrangements with high interest rates may result in negative gearing within the fund, wiping out the value of contributions or investment income.
“We recently refinanced a loan that was 9.92 per cent down to 6.89 per cent and the savings on that was around $7900 a year, which is equivalent to the 11 per cent superannuation guarantee contributions on a $72,500 pay rise,” Chesworth said at the time.
Other lending policy changes introduced across the range of Bluestone loans include the removal of height limits on properties and maximum loan terms increased to 40 years.
The policy changes follow the recent appointment of MacRae, as well as that of Mark Jones, who stepped into the role of chief executive at the end of August.
