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Business Wire
23-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Fidelis Investors Closes Second Rated RTL Securitization, FID 2025-RTL2, Illustrating Continued Demand Amid Tariff Volatility
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fidelis Investors, a leading alternative asset manager with over $1 billion in assets under management, today announced the closing of its second rated Residential Transition Loan (RTL) securitization, FID 2025-RTL2. The transaction marks another important step in Fidelis' mission to bring scale, structure, and transparency to the RTL market, while broadening institutional investor access to housing rehabilitation financing. It also demonstrates continued demand amid recent market volatility stemming from tariffs. Rated by Morningstar DBRS, FID 2025-RTL2 is a two-year revolving, $144.525mm securitization backed by 308 RTLs across 24 different lenders, led by Unitas Funding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelis. Additional eligible RTLs may be added to the portfolio in future transfer periods, subject to the transaction's eligibility criteria. 'This second RTL securitization continues our mission to institutionalize the asset class while creating investor access to an underserved but essential segment of the housing market,' said Brian Tortorella, Managing Partner at Fidelis Investors. 'With a seasoned and standardized platform, Fidelis is building repeatable capital markets solutions that connect institutional demand to America's housing supply challenge.' 'Jefferies commends Fidelis' ability to drive best in class securitization pricing with a well-diversified orderbook,' said Michael Wade, Co-Head of Securitized Markets Group, Capital Markets at Jefferies. 'We look forward to continuing to support Fidelis' mission as they become a programmatic securitization issuer and mainstay in the capital markets ecosystem.' FID 2025-RTL2 follows the firm's inaugural securitization in February 2025 and was oversubscribed across all tranches, with both repeat participants and new investors joining the book. This strong demand reflects growing familiarity with RTLs as an asset class and confidence in the Fidelis platform. 'The market response to this transaction validates our approach and demonstrates that more investors are becoming comfortable with and excited about this asset class,' said Michael Tessitore, Managing Partner at Fidelis Investors. 'We're proud to bring another high-quality securitization to the market that serves both investors and communities.' The firm's second RTL securitization comes after a brief market slowdown earlier this year due to tariff-related disruptions that temporarily paused issuance across the securitization market. Activity has since normalized, and current yields are largely in line with pre-tariff levels. Fidelis' ability to execute another securitization so soon after its first reflects its long-term vision to become a programmatic issuer, offering investors repeatable access to this emerging asset class. Christopher Schmidt, Managing Director at Jefferies, agreed. 'We are pleased to be part of the ongoing growth of the Fidelis enterprise, as they continue to separate themselves as a premier leader in the RTL securitization, origination and asset management space,' he said. 'Whether held on the balance sheet or brought to market, we've been committed to the RTL space since 2013,' added Tortorella. 'Rated securitizations are a natural evolution for us, opening new investor channels while supporting liquidity and competitive financing terms for housing rehabilitation loans.' Jefferies served as sole lead manager and bookrunner. About Fidelis Investors Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Cranford, New Jersey, Fidelis Investors is an alternative asset manager serving institutional investors with strategies across mortgage debt, structured finance, asset-based lending, and real estate. Fidelis has invested approximately $4.5 billion through 16 Mortgage & Real Estate Debt Funds and continues to lead efforts to modernize access to housing-related credit with transparent, scalable solutions. About Jefferies Jefferies is a leading global, full-service investment banking and capital markets firm that provides advisory, sales and trading, research, and wealth and asset management services. With more than 40 offices around the world, Jefferies offers insights and expertise to investors, companies, and governments.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Promotion-relegation is coming to U.S. soccer, via USL. Will it 'reshape' the sport?
Promotion-relegation is coming to U.S. soccer, via USL. Will it 'reshape' the sport? The USL is launching a new USL Division One to create "an interconnected three-tiered men's professional soccer system" with pro-rel. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) United Soccer League owners voted on Tuesday to implement a system of promotion and relegation among the USL's multiple men's divisions, a historic first for professional soccer — and all sports — in the U.S. The European "pro-rel" model, whereby clubs earn promotion to more prestigious leagues or relegation to lesser leagues by finishing at the top or bottom of their current league, is common across global soccer. But North American sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and also Major League Soccer — have always been "closed" entities; franchises have a fixed place, and the only way to join the league, which functions like a cartel, is to find rich owners who'll buy their way into it. Advertisement [Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to $50K] The USL, to a degree, wants to change that. It currently operates two pro leagues, which sit at the second and third tiers of American men's soccer — below the lone top-tier men's league, MLS. But the USL announced last month that it intends to add a new Division 1 league in 2027; and on Wednesday, it said it will create "an interconnected three-tiered men's professional soccer system" with promotion and relegation, bridging its three leagues by 2028. The system would exist separately from MLS, which is far more established than the USL. MLS clubs are much wealthier and more popular. They mostly do not feel threatened by the USL's modest growth, nor do they have any incentive or obligation to integrate themselves into the USL's pro-rel system. The medium-term future, instead, would be one in which there are two distinct Division 1 men's soccer leagues in the United States. Advertisement One, MLS, would remain closed — and probably dominant, with better players and more money, for the foreseeable future. The other, USL, would be semi-open; owners could still buy their way in and start expansion teams, but clubs could also climb into the USL Division One by winning the second-tier USL Championship. (And they could rise into the second-tier Championship by winning the third-tier USL League One.) Will the USL's pro-rel system "reshape" soccer? The introduction of the fluid, "interconnected" pyramid "will reshape the future of professional soccer in the United States," the USL said in its news release. It could be a boon to player development, because it will give more kids in more cities across the country a somewhat direct path from a well-resourced academy to a top-flight league. Advertisement It will also be celebrated by longtime proponents of pro-rel, who've hailed the system's open, meritocratic nature and the intense competition it creates. It will give the USL a distinct marketing pitch: fans, as USL president Paul McDonough said in a statement, are "drawn to the intensity of high-stakes competition, where more matches have real consequences — just like we see in European leagues." The big question is whether McDonough is right. Will the drama of promotion and relegation battles, and the sense that every game matters — unlike in MLS — outweigh the relatively low quality of play? Will it pull in new fans and, perhaps more importantly, attract broadcasters and commercial partners — which, in turn, would allow clubs to spend more on players and elevate the quality of play? That, essentially, is the USL's big bet — and the big unknown. Concerns, complications of promotion and relegation A pro-rel system would also present challenges. The entire concept of Division 1, 2 and 3 leagues is actually a formal distinction governed by the U.S. Soccer Federation's Pro League Standards. Those PLS require that a D1 league and its clubs meet a variety of requirements, including some related to finances, market size and stadium size. Some promoted clubs, in theory, could struggle to satisfy those standards — thereby complicating the USL's plans, or forcing U.S. Soccer to tweak or even overhaul the PLS. Advertisement And some relegated clubs, meanwhile, having spent significant money to meet Division 1 standards, could struggle financially if their revenues dip as their teams fall into the second or third divisions. That worry, though, is more acute in countries like England where gigantic TV contracts grant Premier League clubs huge shares of centralized revenue — shares that then disappear if a team is relegated. USL clubs, on the other hand, rely to a much greater degree on localized revenue streams, such as ticket sales. And the upside, the allure of pro-rel, outweighed those concerns. Although the vote wasn't unanimous, a supermajority of owners — 90%, McDonough told The Guardian — voted in favor of adopting the global system. Its implementation over the coming years could be one of the most significant developments in the modern era of U.S. men's soccer. How will pro-rel in the USL work? What, exactly, Tuesday's vote means and creates will be determined over the coming months and years. Advertisement The owners approved pro-rel in principle. But they did not decide how many teams will be promoted and relegated each season. They have not settled on financial mechanisms that will be necessary to soften the blow of relegation. As of Tuesday, they had not sought formal blessings from U.S. Soccer of the USL Players Association. They have had extensive discussions about the plan for many years. Those discussions intensified last month, and led to Tuesday's vote. But, as McDonough told The Guardian, 'we acknowledge that there's a lot of work to do." To start, they have to get the USL Division One up and running. That will require commitments from as-yet-unidentified owners — who might, in some cases, be put off by pro-rel, because they'd be buying into a D1 league that might then demote them to a lower tier. A successful launch of the Division One is far from guaranteed. And a successful implementation of this interconnected pro-rel system is, therefore, even less certain. Significant barriers remain. A lot could change over the next two years, despite the firmness of Wednesday's splashy announcement. The USL, in conclusion, said: "More details will be shared in the coming months as the league works closely with clubs, partners, and stakeholders to implement this historic change."
