News

INVESTOR DAILY
The oversubscribed corporate note, arranged by FIIG Securities, comes as the firm has recently surpassed $1 billion in funds under management.

Boutique investment manager and non-bank lender Zagga has secured $65 million through a corporate note arranged by fixed income specialist, FIIG Securities.

With an initial target figure of $50 million, the four-year, senior secured note closed 30 per cent oversubscribed. It provides investors access to a fixed income investment with a current yield of ~7.85 per cent per annum or Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSR) + 4.2 per cent.

FINANCIAL STANDARD
Zagga, a real estate private credit investment manager, has secured $65 million through an oversubscribed corporate note arranged by FIIG Securities.

Zagga will allocate the funds to mid-market residential development projects along Australia’s eastern seaboard, predominantly focused on Sydney.

The four-year, senior secured corporate note exposes investors to fixed income with a current yield of 7.85% per annum. It closed 30% above its target of $50 million.

AUSBIZ
In this Ausbiz interview, Zagga CEO & Co-Founder Alan Greenstein reflects on the sector’s transition into the mainstream, the rising expectations around discipline and transparency, and the significance of Zagga’s renewed $65 million corporate note with FIIG Securities.

THE KOREA TIMES
Australia may not have been on the radar for Korean investors — until now. As institutional appetite for alternative assets grows, Australian fund manager Zagga is positioning itself as a first mover to connect Korean capital with real estate opportunities down under.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
Australia’s favourite asset isn’t listed on the ASX. It’s the thing people live in, argue over at auctions, and quietly trust as their financial foundation long after the dinner table conversations have ended.

Today, the residential property market is worth more than $12 trillion – much larger than the size of the Australian sharemarket – with about 55% of household wealth tied up in bricks and mortar.

FINANCEASIA
Despite criticism, Roushana Sjahsam, Asean senior board adviser at investment firm Zagga, argues private credit is an emerging asset class for defensive, yield-seeking investors, who want diversification, stable income, and portfolio resilience.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
As ESG stops being a buzzword and starts shaping real investment decisions, Zagga’s move to join the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment shows how responsible capital is now being used to build, not just profit from, Australia’s future.

THE GOLDEN TIMES
With alternative investments having growing appeal, the need for self-funded retirees and their advisers to do their due diligence has never been more important – as a recent ASIC report highlighted.

The demise of the $40 billion hybrid market by 2032 will simply fuel the growing appeal of private credit – especially for self-funded retirees.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
The recent experience of a fund manager specialising in private credit suggests more SMSF trustees are looking to include this asset class in their fund portfolios.

“This year since 1 July, that is the start of the financial year, over 30 per cent of the new entities that have been registered for investment with our business have been SMSFs,” Zagga executive director Tom Cranfield told selfmanagedsuper.

INVESTOR DAILY
As a Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) signatory, Zagga has committed to integrate sustainability factors into all investment stages, from analysis to reporting.

Zagga first established its independent ESG advisory committee back in 2023, which is mandated to advise and oversee the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into Zagga’s investment and operational strategies.

ALTERNATIVE FUTURE FOUNDATION
As part of Sydney Alts Week 2025, our Executive Director, Tom Cranfield, sat down with Nina Dunn, Director of the Alternative Future Foundation

WEALTH & SOCIETY
The PRI is the world’s leading advocate for responsible investment. Joining its global network formalises Zagga’s commitment to embedding Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations across investment and operational decision-making and practices.

Nikki Kemp, Singapore-based Independent Chair of Zagga’s ESG Committee, Director of Singapore Green Finance Centre and former World Economic Forum Executive, said this was an important milestone signalling Zagga’s determination to integrate ESG at every level.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
When share prices climb faster than profits, dividend yields naturally shrink. So while stocks look elevated, those once-reliable cheques don’t carry the weight they used to.

For income-hungry investors, the hunt is on for something steadier.

One corner of the market that’s quietly moving into the spotlight is private credit – and in particular, real estate-backed private credit.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
The term ‘commercial’ has been synonymous with property for decades. It conjures images of office towers, industrial blocks, and retail precincts. However, in the context of commercial real estate debt (CRED) – part of the broader real estate private credit market – commercial doesn’t describe the building, but rather, the underlying loan transaction. It’s about lending to a commercial borrower, typically a developer, and assessing the quality of the sponsor, the project, risk exposure, and execution. Tom Cranfield, Executive Director of Risk & Execution at Zagga, explains why this distinction matters for investors.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
SMSFs are turning to private credit, says Zagga, which is focused on showing “commercial” lending is less about skyscrapers and more about strong sponsors, steady margins and projects that actually stack up.

SMSF ADVISER
Tax has historically been levied on realised gains – profits made, not valuations. Division 296 breaks that tradition, creating a scenario where investors may owe tax on unrealised gains – values that could just as easily reverse.

This adds complexity for investors: it’s no longer just about selecting asset classes, but about structuring portfolios to manage tax exposure.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
While the benefits of CRE debt are increasingly recognised, one fundamental question persists: how should investors access real estate private credit – directly or via a fund?

Both routes can be rewarding. What also needs to be considered is manager selection and doing your research to understand the structure, liquidity terms, and underlying credit processes. Now is the time to be diversified and defensive; in today’s uncertain investment environment, Australian real estate private credit is being duly recognised as an asset class of choice.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
As the dust settles on a turbulent financial year, and Division 296 looms large on the super tax horizon, Aussie investors are waking up to a sober truth: you don’t have to shoot the lights out to build a smart portfolio. Sometimes it’s about holding the torch steady.

The focus has now shifted from big swings for capital growth to something a little more… sensible. Income, consistency, capital preservation.

And that’s why private credit, a once-niche corner of the market, is starting to get more airtime.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
While the government argues Division 296 will only affect a small portion of Australians, it’s clear that SMSFs – often used by high net worth individuals to manage their retirement wealth – will feel the brunt.

If the tax does go ahead, it could lead to some big shifts in how super is used, and investors are likely to look for other places to park their wealth, such as trusts or companies.

That’s where private credit, like Zagga’s core offering, could come in for these investors.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
Traditionally, defensive investing meant a tilt toward fixed income – bonds and cash. For more cautious allocators, it also included real assets like gold. These assets were expected to provide protection when equities fell. But that assumption has been increasingly challenged in an environment where market correlations behave differently than they once did.

One asset class rising to meet this moment is private credit. At Zagga, we see firsthand how this market is maturing, how demand is growing, and how investors are shifting their thinking.

THE URBAN DEVELOPER
The transformation of a century-old Melbourne building—from silk merchant to police station, backpackers’ accommodation to premium commercial space—proves that heritage adaptive reuse projects are possible. The successful conversion of Invicta House demonstrates how heritage buildings can deliver viable returns when developers combine careful planning with experienced design teams and flexible funding structures.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
While the spotlight is on the building, the real story behind Invicta’s comeback was how it was funded.

Instead of going cap in hand to the big banks, STRE went the private credit route, and that flexibility made all the difference.

“Private credit, and in particular Zagga, provided quite a compelling option for us due to its flexibility and deep understanding of construction finance,” Burrows said.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
Not all credit is created equal and thorough due diligence is essential. But, while prudent risk assessment is essential, investors must also separate fact from fiction. In private credit, persistent myths often cloud judgement and hold investors back from otherwise sound opportunities.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
In today’s evolving funding landscape, banks, government initiatives, and private credit each play a vital role. While public infrastructure is best driven by government, and banks continue to support traditional home lending, private credit investment firms like Zagga offer the flexibility and responsiveness needed to fund complex mid-market projects – bridging the gap where timing, structure, or risk profile may fall outside conventional parameters.

INVESTOR DAILY
In buoyant times, it’s easy to overlook the role of the steady and stable parts of a portfolio – the conservative income-generators that don’t make headlines. But these are exactly the assets that provide stability when everything else is in flux. Yet the traditional 60/40 portfolio is no longer proving a robust stronghold among record volatility. Traditionally, multi-asset portfolios have relied on the negative correlation between bonds and equities for diversification. However, increasingly, we are seeing a positive correlation in public markets. The year 2022 was an extreme example, where we saw significant correlated dips in both bonds and equities, and it is what we have again seen repeated in the most recent bout of market volatility.

AUSBIZ
Alan Greenstein, Zagga CEO & Co-Founder, points out a rising trend from public to private markets globally, hinting at Australia’s potential growth. With a new real estate credit fund in Singapore, diverse currency options and tax benefits await investors, Alan tells Ausbiz.

GREEN STREET NEWS
Sydney-based private credit firm Zagga has launched a new Singapore fund to tap into the growing Asian capital appetite for private lending on Australia commercial real estate, Green Street News can reveal.

FEAR AND GREED
Sean Aylmer speaks with Tom Cranfield, Executive Director at Zagga, about the rise of real estate private credit as a defensive asset. Tom explains how tighter bank lending has opened opportunities for alternative lenders, offering stable returns and low correlation to public markets. They also look at the growing role of private credit in portfolio diversification, particularly in the face of volatility on equity markets.

STOCKHEAD & THE AUSTRALIAN
With market volatility on the rise, investors are increasingly prioritising steady returns and capital preservation. Zagga’s conservative real-estate backed lending aims to offer exactly that. But as capital pours into the sector and headlines follow, it’s becoming increasingly clear: not all private credit strategies are built the same.

SUPER REVIEW
The consensus among alternative investment managers and the broader industry is that an added regulatory impost would stifle returns in private markets.

FS SUPER
With unrest and uncertainty rippling through markets and shaking investor confidence, we have seen a surge in private credit’s popularity – offering potential for reliable, steady income, protection against inflation, and diversification away from public markets. As this growth continues, private credit is set to become an even greater focus for investors, borrowers and regulators.

THE AUSTRALIAN
Just as corporate bonds provide an alternative to buying shares in companies, CRED provides exposure to the property market without needing to own the assets. However, unlike bonds, which depend on the yield curve, CRED offers a contracted return from day one.

AUSBIZ
Alan Greenstein, Zagga CEO & Co-Founder, joined Ausbiz to discuss how declining interest rates are shaping private markets and what this means for both investors and borrowers.

INVESTOR DAILY
“I don’t think more regulation is going to necessarily improve the outcome of the performance and all that will do potentially is erode returns.”

FIXED INCOME NEWS AUSTRALIA
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has released a discussion paper on the dynamics between public and private markets.

INVESTOR DAILY
ASIC has warned private market operators as it moves to expose the opaque market to greater transparency.

INVESTOR DAILY
Despite global uncertainty, Australia’s private credit market is predicted to see strong growth in 2025, fuelled by business lending and attractive returns, as the Reserve Bank’s cautious rate cuts support continued demand.

FORESIGHT ANALYTICS
ZCF has been assigned a VERY STRONG rating indicating a very strong level of confidence that the manager can deliver a risk-adjusted return in line with its investment objectives. Foresight Analytics & Ratings designation as a COMPLEX product indicates that the underlying assets require specialist investment skills to acquire, manage and monitor.

AUSBIZ
Tom Cranfield, Director, Investment & Risk, joined Ausbiz to discuss the critical role private credit plays in financing sustainable housing and tackling Australia’s housing supply shortage.

THE URBAN DEVELOPER
The commercial property market has become a cautionary tale for many investors as they turn to private credit as an alternative pathway to property, writes Tom Cranfield, Director, Investment and Risk.

YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTY
With the commercial property market facing challenges, private credit is becoming a smart way for investors to still get good returns while avoiding too much risk.

THE TIMES
Leading boutique private credit investment manager, Zagga, has partnered with award-winning, celebrity landscape designer, Jamie Durie, on his latest project, a luxury home set to be one of Australia’s most sustainable builds.

THE REAL ESTATE CONVERSATION
Zagga, has partnered with award-winning, celebrity landscape designer, Jamie Durie, on his latest project, a luxury home set to be one of Australia’s most sustainable builds.

THE GOLDEN TIMES
With many economists expecting the Reserve Bank to start cutting interest rates in early 2025, returns on term deposits could feel the pinch. Private credit is an alternative, but those pursuing this investment option will need to do their homework – thoroughly.

THE URBAN DEVELOPER
Zagga Director, Frank Hageali says the growth of the non-bank lending sector warrants a framework. He says it could include accreditation, compliance, CPD and education, regular communication of industry related matters to members, membership, committees and potential rating systems.  

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
Zagga has achieved an increased global presence with the registration of its CRED fund as a foreign investment trust in Japan. The development means the Fund will now be available for Japanese investors seeking exposure to the Australian real estate private credit sector and the benefit of its characteristics, such as providing increased diversification, delivering a strong source of income and enhancing the defensive component of a portfolio.

INVESTOR DAILY
According to the non-bank lender, this “significant milestone” will assist a growing cohort of Japanese investors seeking exposure to Australian real estate private credit for its income-generating, diversification, and defensive characteristics.

YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTY
The Federal Government is acutely aware that property prices are a simmering intergenerational issue and while ‘build more homes’ seems like a sensible solution, the reality is achieving this goal is more difficult than the campaign slogan sounds.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
Private credit can avoid the volatility often seen in public markets for products such as bonds – which are extremely sensitive to interest rate movements and sentiment – instead, providing a predictable income stream based on the loan’s interest rate and duration.

INVESTOR DAILY
Explore the dynamic and rapidly evolving world of Australian commercial real estate debt in this webcast featuring Zagga Director, Tom Cranfield.

NO HAIR, JUST FINANCE
Zagga has carved a niche in the finance industry by providing innovative lending solutions that resonate with today’s challenges. Tom will share insights into what makes Zagga stand out in the competitive finance landscape, discuss the current economic environment, and share a few ‘war stories’ from the field.

THE URBAN DEVELOPER
The Vue le Pont development is a multi-level building designed to the highest standard, with views of Sydney Harbour, the bridge, and the city. It is expected to garner appeal from locals, expats, and high-net-worth international buyers, who are looking for ‘lock-up & leave’ right-sized product situated within the local neighbourhood.

FINANCIAL REVIEW
With developers knocking on their door for finance, Zagga CEO and co-founder Alan Greenstein said the group’s aspirations were to “slowly and carefully” double its funds under management to about $1.5 billion and attract a deep pool of funders. “Non-bank lenders have carved out a space for themselves in the market by offering a highly credible solution,” Mr Greenstein told The Australian Financial Review.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
SMSF investors can access private credit opportunities through the Zagga CRED fund, which is a unitised version of the Zagga Feeder Fund. The underlying investments for the offering are high-quality, mortgaged-secured loans in the commercial real estate sector.

SQM RESEARCH
The Zagga Investments Lending Trust rated 4-star, SUPERIOR rating for fourth year running.

THE URBAN DEVELOPER
As risk-averse banks pull back from lending, a significant opportunity is rising for developers and investors.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
Boutique investment manager and non-bank lender Zagga has launched its initial unitised private debt fund aimed at providing investors with access to an asset class that can operate as a hedge against the rising interest rates currently pervading the Australian economy.

INVESTOR DAILY
Boutique investment manager and non-bank lender Zagga has announced the launch of its inaugural unitised private debt fund, the Zagga CRED Fund (ZCF). According to the firm, given the asset class’ ability to serve as a robust hedge against rising interest rates, the fund presents as a compelling alternative for advisers aiming to increase their clients’ allocation to private debt in the current inflationary climate.

ETHIUM WEALTH
Zagga CEO spoke with Michael Downing from Ethium Wealth and shared his thoughts on the macroeconomic environment

FEAR AND GREED
Alan Greenstein talks to Sean Aylmer (Fear and Greed) about the wild ride for parts of the property market, and where he sees the opportunities for investors in the midst of a global inflation storm.

NEST EGG
Marketplace lender, Zagga, recently partnered with UTS to design a machine learning algorithm that predicts investor behaviour to shorten the matching process. But what ramifications will artificial intelligence have on the investment sphere?
Nest Egg sat down with Zagga CEO, Alan Greenstein, to learn more about the project and AI in the world of investing.

MORTGAGE BUSINESS
“We’re very pleased to be embarking on the next phase of our growth journey with Crowd Bank, and continuing to support Australian businesses with flexible funding to help them realise their own growth objectives.”
Alan Greenstein, added that the alternative investment platform has been seeing particular growth from small businesses over 2020, as “more businesses turned to alternative finance due to banks effectively closing their doors to many of their existing clients, including small businesses”.

AUSTRALIAN FINTECH
Japanese crowdfunding platform Crowd Bank is venturing into the Australian small business lending market, tipping A$50 million into Zagga, a marketplace lender set up in 2016. Since its launch, Zagga has originated almost $400 million in loans across more than 100 transactions, the company said in a statement yesterday outlining the deal with Crowd Bank.

MPA
Japanese crowdfunding platform Crowd Bank is looking to break into the Australian market through a $50 million funding deal with alternative lending platform Zagga.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
A major challenge for SMSF investors is their of lack understanding of alternative asset classes and products such as peer-to-peer lending, one lender has said.

SELFMANAGEDSUPER
A lack of diversification and limited exposure to debt-based products was constraining the portfolios of Australian SMSF trustees and a new approach to income investments was needed, according to marketplace lender Zagga.

FS SUPER
The Australian investment market of 2017 is evolving rapidly. Low interest rates and global monetary policy have pushed yields to record lows. Property prices have reached “bubbly” …