Midlands Smarter PIE Fund is a type of managed fund. The purpose of the Fund is to produce returns for the Fund’s investors. A managed fund pools together money from lots of individual investors, which gives them access to investments they wouldn’t usually be able to access individually. In this instance, the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund invests in first mortgage securities (and a small amount of cash deposits for liquidity).  Benefits of managed funds include access to a broader selection of investment opportunities, greater management expertise, and lower investment fees than investors might be able to obtain on their own.

Our minimum investment is $10,000. However we do consider lesser amounts, espeically if you plan to make regular contributions so please call us to discuss. 

To make this easy, we’ve set Midlands Funds Management up as a registered payee with all major NZ banks. Create a payment on online banking or on your phone banking app as usual.  In the ‘Payee’ field, type ‘Midlands’ and ‘Midlands Funds Management Limited’ should appear. Select this and our bank account details will automatically pre-populate. Then you can complete the transaction as normal.

Alternatively, you can transfer your first investment sum or additional funds into theMidlands Smarter PIE Funds bank account by following these instructions:
Account Name: Midlands Funds Management Ltd
Bank: ANZ Bank
Bank account number: 06-0701-0385070-03
Particulars: Your Surname
Code: Your First Name
Reference: Midlands Account Number “UF—-” 

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DEPOSIT INTO THE MIDLANDS INCOME WHOLESALE FUND, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER: 06 0701 0385070 05

One of the benefits of investing in the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund is that your investment is ‘on call’. Withdrawals will normally be actioned within 5 business days of receipt of a completed Withdrawal Form. Normally withdrawals take place on a Monday and Thursday.

We will need to receive a completed and signed Withdrawal Form by the close of business on a Friday for processing on the following Monday and by the close of business on a Wednesday for processing on Thursday. If a public holiday falls within these dates or other unforeseen circumstances occur we may require the full 5 days to process the transaction.

Please note that for the protection of our investors, we will only pay withdrawals into the verified bank account on file.

Please note that in certain circumstances withdrawals could be suspended or deferred. For more information, see our Product Disclosure Statement.

If you invest with Midlands, you are investing into the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund, which is an actively managed investment fund. Our investors’ money is pooled and then lent out to approved borrowers who meet our strict loan criteria, to purchase commercial, residential, or rural property. These borrowers pay interest on the loans, just like they would if they got a mortgage from a bank.

Management, supervisor and administration fees and expenses totalling 2.10% are deducted and a contribution made to the reserve fund. The remaining interest income received for the quarter is then distributed back to our Investors. These are your “returns”.

Our quarterly returns are generally communicated as an annualised, pre-tax return figure. For example,  a return of 6.65% represents an annualised return of 6.65% that has already had fees deducted but not tax, given the tax investors pay is specific to each investors circumstances.

Before depositing your returns into your account, Midlands will calculate any tax due, based on the Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR) you have provided and transfer this to the IRD. You can read more about tax rates here.

Management, supervisor, administration fees and expenses totalling 2.1% are deducted from the Fund.  We do not charge set-up, withdrawal, performance, penalty or transaction fees.

Distributions (being the returns earned on your investment after the payment of fees, expenses, reserve fund contributions and tax) are calculated quarterly at the end of March, June, September and December in each year.

Our usual practice is to pay the distributions to investors on the last business day of each of those months (though this may take longer in limited circumstances).

What you see on your statements is what you’ll get delivered directly into your account (other than amounts deducted to pay tax).

When you invest with Midlands, you can choose to either:
1. Have your returns paid directly into your bank account each quarter, OR
2. Re-invest your returns back into the Fund to take advantage of compounding returns and build long term wealth.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) is designed to help detect and deter money laundering and terrorism financing. Legally, we must comply with the AML/CFT Act, which helps protect our communities from criminal activity. This means that we need to collect and verify information about you, such as your identity, address, nature and purpose of the business relationship, and also your source of funds and wealth.

Biometrics is facial recognition technology – We use it to biometrically match your face to the picture on your ID. We do this to meet our Anti Money Laundering (AML) requirements. In order for us to do this you will be sent a link via a text message.

Using a mobile device you will be asked to:

1. Take a picture of your NZ driver licence or your passport
2. Follow prompts to take a video of your face
3. Verify that the details captured off your driver licence or passport are correct
4. Confirm, amend or add your residential address

We think facial recognition is the fastest and easiest way for you to confirm your identity and for us to identify you. But we do have other options available if you are not comfortable using the biometrics technology, or you don’t have a smartphone.

We can accept certified copies of identification and other documents we need to collect, or you can contact us to discuss your options.

All investments involve some level of risk. Risk Ratings are a handy tool which allow investors to easily compare the risk profile of different managed funds on a like for like basis. That’s because all retail managed funds in New Zealand must produce a Risk Rating and all funds use the same formula, which is set by the Government

Risk Rating
Midlands has an FMA Risk Rating of “1” out of “7”, the lowest risk rating possible. A Risk Rating of 1 does not mean a risk free investment. In comparison, and while there is some variance (and Risk Ratings can change over time), conservative KiwiSaver funds are usually a 3, balanced KiwiSaver funds are usually a 4, and growth KiwiSaver funds are usually a 5. Banks are not required to produce a Risk Rating for term deposits, although they are very low risk.

Volatility
One of the key benefits of investing with Midlands is that the Fund typically does not experience the same volatility as alternative investment options like shares. That’s because the Fund invests primarily in property loans. As such, even if the underlying property value increases or decreases, the value of the loan, and therefore the Fund’s underlying asset, does not. Therefore, there is little likelihood that the returns to investors change by a large amount from quarter to quarter.

For more information please refer to the Funds Product Disclosure Statement.

There are 3 layers of supervision which are designed to help protect investors:

1. Midlands must hold a licence to operate, granted by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). The FMA is a Crown Entity responsible for overseeing New Zealand’s financial markets. They protect NZ retail investors by regulating and monitoring retail financial product offers, including the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund.
2. Midlands must be supervised by an independent supervisor who is itself licensed by the FMA. Midlands Funds Management is supervised by New Zealand’s oldest independent trustee company, Trustees Executors Ltd.
3. Midlands financial accounts and internal controls are independently audited annually by PWC, a global ‘Big 4’ accountancy and auditing firm.

Appointed supervisors add a layer of oversight, providing our investors with confidence that their money is in the best of hands and only being invested in accordance with the Trust Deed, which can be found here.

The Fund’s authorised investments are mandated in our Trust Deed and SIPO. These documents stipulate that we can ONLY invest in loans secured by first mortgages over land and buildings in New Zealand, within defined lending ratios.

The Fund also invests in cash and cash equivalents (that is, term deposits of up to 90 days) with registered banks.

We do not lend on consumer goods such as appliances, used cars etc.  The Trust Deed and SIPO contain various other rules we must comply with and can be found here.

Midlands’ Trust Deed stipulates that Midlands can only invest in loans secured by first mortgages over land and buildings in New Zealand, within defined lending ratios that are set our in the SIPO. The Fund also invests in cash and cash equivalents (that is, term deposits of up to 90 days) with registered banks.

We do not offer traditional consumer home loans (loans for your own family home). In addition, we do not lend on consumer goods such as appliances, used cars etc.

A copy of our Trust Deed and PDS is available here.

In New Zealand, you pay tax on the returns, interest and dividends generated by most investments, including savings in the bank, term deposits, KiwiSaver, Shares and managed investment funds, like Midlands.

The Midlands Smarter PIE Fund is a PIE Fund, which is a type of investment entity that has special tax rules. A PIE Fund’s returns are taxed at each investor’s Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), which may be lower than your personal income tax rate or the trust tax rate.  If you invest in a PIE Fund, and are resident in NZ, you will not pay more than 28% tax.  You can find out more about tax here.

One of the benefits of investing with Midlands is that we take care of all the tax obligations for you. That is, investors don’t need to file a personal tax return for their Midlands investment (provided they give us the correct PIR). That’s because Midlands will calculate any tax owed based on the tax information you provide. Midlands is responsible for filing income tax returns and physically paying tax to the IRD on behalf of its investors.  Normally, only trusts and companies or individuals who have been taxed at the wrong Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), would need to file a tax return.

No, the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund itself does not pay commissions. However, Midlands Funds Management Limited (the Manager of the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund) may do so from its own funds and at its own discretion. For example, if a new investor was introduced to Midlands via a financial advisor, Midlands Funds Management may agree to pay commission to that financial advisor, as is commonindustry practice. However, that commission is paid out of Midlands Funds Management’s management fee. It is not deducted from investors’ investments in the Fund.

When you invest with Midlands, you receive ‘units’ in the Fund. The units you receive are determined by the amount you invested and the ‘unit price’ aka the value of units in the Fund. The value of units in the Fund is based on the market value of the Fund at the relevant time. 

The unit price of the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund is $1.00 eg if you invest $10,000, you will receive 10,000 Units in the Midlands Smarter PIE Fund.

We aim to maintain the unit price at $1.00 on an on-going basis. However, the unit price may go up or down because of changes in market conditions and other factors.

When you make an investment with Midlands, you will receive an investment summary which outlines the number of units you hold, the unit price of the fund and the dollar value of your investment.

Yes, Midlands does set aside contingency funds as a way to help protect the Fund.

The accountants call these funds ‘specific provisions’ and ‘retained earnings’. Think of them as prudent ‘rainy day funds’ or a safety net that helps the Fund to weather inevitable lending lumps and bumps, provide a buffer against any distressed loans or insulate the Fund against other events that may effect investment returns. However, operating a reserve fund does not guarantee that distributions or unit value will not fall.

The Midlands Smarter PIE Fund is a retail fund under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA). By comparison, our Midlands Income Wholesale Fund is a wholesale fund and is only available to wholesale investors. 

The terms retail fund and wholesale fund refers to different types of investment funds that cater to distinct categories of investors.

The key differneces are:
– Retail funds cater to individual investors, while wholesale funds target wholesale investors only. These are typically institutional and high-net-worth investors.
– Retail funds are more heavily regulated to protect individual investors, whereas wholesale funds have lighter regulatory requirements.
– Anyone can normally invest in a retail fund whereas eligibility criteria applies for people wanting to invest in a wholesale fund. Visit our Wholesale Fund page to find out more.

No, we do not offer second mortgages. Midlands’ Trust Deed stipulates that Midands can only invest in loans secured by first mortgages over land and buildings in New Zealand.  A copy of our Trust Deed is available here.

Our minimum loan size is $400,000. The borrowing amount will be dependent on your financial circumstance.

Please refer to the ‘Borrow’ section on our website for more details or get in touch.

If you have a mortgage broker, they are your best starting point. If you don’t have a broker, or if you have general questions, get in touch with our friendly, knowledgeable Property Loans team:
– Mark Hardman (Auckland North) 027 354 7223
– Andrew Sanders (Taupo South & South Island) 027 202 8148

You can also call:  0800 870 326
Send us an email: loans@mmt.net.nz
Fill out our Enquiry Form

Our interest rates are floating and currently start at 9.50% per annum. The rate will depend on your unique financial circumstances, and the associated level of risk, taking into account:
– how much you want to borrow
– the term of your loan
– your income
– your other financial commitments
– your credit history
– Loan to Value Ratio of security offered
– Strength of exit

We offer terms of up to 2 years

At Midlands, our lending team has over 110 years of banking & finance experience in house. We use this specialist knowledge and practical judgement to identify sound lending opportunities that the banks have missed.

Yes, the large majority of our lending business comes via mortgage brokers. We would welcome an enquiry from your broker.  Many will already know of Midlands and our lending requirements, thanks to the proactive involvement we have had in the industry over many years.

Not strictly speaking, but the large majority of our loans come through a Mortgage Broker and we do prefer this. Feel free to contact us to discuss your situation, we are always happy to help.

At Midlands, we pride ourselves on our personalized approach and desire to find lending solutions where possible. If your circumstances change, it is always best to be proactive by contacting us and being open and transparent. The earlier we know about changes the more likely we can work together to try to put practical solutions in place that will benefit all parties.

At Midlands, we pride ourselves on our personalised approach and desire to find lending solutions where possible.

If you’re having problems meeting your existing Midlands loan repayments or think that you may experience difficulty doing so in the near future please contact us. The earlier we know about changes the more likely we can work together to try to put practical solutions in place that will benefit all parties.

We may be able to offer a deferment of your loan repayments by capitalising the interest for a period of time. This will be dependent on your specific set of circumstances.