CHICAGO—Alliant Credit Union is reporting its loan trading desk sold $186.5 million and acquired $89 million in commercial and consumer loan participations during the first quarter of 2021.
Alliant said its trading partners in the 18 transactions included credit unions across the country and came in the wake of a successful 2020 in which it closed sales transactions totaling $219.7 on the year.
A portion of the first quarter activity included sales of commercial real estate participations to six different credit unions on a multifamily property in suburban Chicago and another on a large, high-performing recreational vehicle resort community in the northeastern U.S., the credit union stated.
Alliant said it also sold four pools of consumer loans secured by recreational vehicles in the first quarter. CUToday.info featured Alliant’s RV loan participation business here.
‘Significant Momentum’
“We’re seeing significant momentum as we expand our partnerships with other credit unions that seek loans backed by institutional-quality properties,” said VP Charles Krawitz, who leads commercial lending and loan trading at Alliant. “Furthermore, our national network of commercial mortgage bankers allow us to access to high-quality transactions, and those relationships have deepened as we meet with continued success.”
Alliant said while is seeks to mitigate risk in its loan portfolio by buying and selling loan participations, the credit union retains servicing for loans that it sells. “This ensures that the loans continue to be serviced as Alliant’s own and limits volatility in servicing, which has led to loss rates below industry standards across its loan participations,” the credit union said.
Fintech Partnerships
On the acquisitions side, Alliant said it purchased $89 million in participations in two consumer solar loan pools. Although Alliant purchased the solar loan participations from two credit unions, the loans were originated by two fintech companies.
“Solar loans complement other types of consumer products in which we are experienced, such as home equity lines of credit and mortgages, with an attractive risk-return ratio because borrowers tend to pay off their solar loans when they sell or refinance their homes,” said Krawitz. “Loan purchases provide the opportunity for our members to benefit from a growing sector while we explore partnering with fintech originators.”