Equity Trustees lands custodian gig for new private credit fund

MA Financial Group has chosen Equity Trustees as the responsible entity and custodian for its soon-to-be-listed private credit fund.

The Credit Income Trust is the first listed private credit fund to be launched by Sydney-based investment firm MA Financial Group.

The Trust will be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Wednesday 5 March 2025.

Equity Trustees’ EGM of corporate and superannuation trustee services Andrew Godfrey hailed the partnership, which he said “exemplifies the strength of collaboration between innovative asset managers and experienced responsible entities and custodians”.

He added that custodian and responsible entity services remain critical for fund managers to ensure the trust meets its regulatory and compliance obligations.

Frank Danieli, MA’s managing director and head of credit investments and lending, said the partnership would improve investors’ access to the firm’s flagship private credit strategies.

MA is a specialist global alternative asset manager, with a focus on the private credit, real estate and hospitality markets. The firm currently oversees $9.9 billion in assets under management and $128 billion in managed loans.

According to Equity Trustees, the new Trust boasts access to the firm’s “large, diversified portfolio” of flagship private credit strategies, which have “delivered consistent returns and outperformed traditional benchmarks for fixed income investments since inception”.

For Danieli, the launch of the fund serves as a “pivotal moment” for the firm as it builds its presence in the private credit market.

The fund, he notes, “has attracted strong interest from investors and introduces asset-backed lending as an essential and innovative element in the private credit landscape”.

Equity Trustees was last year selected by both FIIG Securities and Coller Capital as custodian and responsible entity for its funds.