Equity

The newly branded Niam Credit plans to expand into mezzanine finance in preparation for widespread refinancing challenges in the region.

The manager said lower refinancing LTVs and falling capital values could cause problems for maturing loans, but described the funding gap as ‘relatively modest’ in historic terms.

Equity is committed and ready to invest in prime European property, but a lack of clarity on debt terms is an issue for investors.

The pandemic will make it difficult to invest capital during the first half of the year but declines in asset pricing are expected to help deal volumes rebound in H2 2020.

Borrowers with financially engineered performances face covenant breaches amid a market correction, warns AXA IM – Real Assets’ head of research and strategy.