Omni launches third fund with $400m target

Omni Partners, the London-based fund manager, has simultaneously announced both the launch and first closing of its third secured lending fund on approximately $60 million.

Omni Secured Lending Fund III has a final target of $400 million – a significant increase on the $240 million raised by its second fund, which closed in February this year.

The fund will provide short-term loans against UK residential and commercial properties. All loans will be asset-backed, duration will be no longer than 24 months, and loan to value (LTV) is capped at 75 percent.

The loans are typically made to professional property investors to fund the acquisition of buy-to-let properties or fund refurbishment projects; while exits tend to come from property sales or long-term refinancings.

Steve Clark, Omni’s founder and head of risk, said private credit “should be a compelling part of every institutional investor’s portfolio”. Traditionally backed by family offices, Omni has secured its first direct allocation from a pension fund in Fund III, though the identity of the investor has not been disclosed.

Omni focuses on the UK short-term lending market where it says alternative lenders can obtain interest rate premiums and demand more security in return for speed and certainty of execution.

In a statement, Omni said its Fund I – which was launched in February 2014 – returned 112 percent of investors’ original capital within 27 months. The second fund has just transitioned from its investment period to realisation phase. Since April 2015, it has delivered a net IRR of 11.5 percent.

Omni has thematic discretionary macro and equity event-driven strategies as well as UK secured property lending and has about $1 billion under management. As well as London, it has a second office in Irvine, California.