EJF Investments

Dividend maintained

27 April 2020

EJI Investments (EJFI) has announced that it will pay its 2.675p quarterly dividend on 29 May as scheduled. The decision to maintain the dividend contrasts with most of its peers, which are either suspending or reducing them. This reflects the cash-generative nature of EJFI’s portfolio and that it has remained in relatively good shape. Its NAV fell by 13.6% in March, but 7.5% was FX related. COVID-19 has clouded the economic outlook and affects the high-yield credit collateral backing the CLO tranches. This in turns leads to lower valuations in the CLO equity investments that account for most of the EJFI’s portfolio. However, the impact has been exacerbated by primary dealers de-risking and collateral confusion regarding what could be used for US Fed repo operations and what was eligible for the US government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. EJFI believes that with greater clarity the market disruption should subside and notes that there have been no crystallised losses in its portfolio. The current dividend yield is 7.8%. MORE »

Encouraging 2019 interims

8 October 2019

EJF Investments (EJFI) delivered a 9.5% total return in H119. Despite the recent US rate cut receiving much attention, conditions remain supportive for US community and regional banks and insurance, whose subordinated securities support the US securitisation risk-retention investments that, along with related securities, account for 72% of EJFI’s portfolio. Management remains optimistic on this asset class. In April EJFI redeemed a collateralised debt obligation (CDO) netting £8.9m in total, having earlier purchased one in March (forecast IRR 10–11%) and completed a further $11m investment in September. MORE »

Seeking gains from regulatory changes

31 January 2019

EJF Investments (EJFI), launched in April 2017, seeks to earn attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in opportunities created by regulatory and structural changes affecting the financial services industry. While it can invest in a broad range of financial products in the US and Europe, it is mostly focused on US securitisation risk retention investments and specialist lending. The manager continues to see many opportunities in these core target areas and may expand into European assets in EU risk retention, specialist lending and capital solutions. MORE »