Macquarie Margin Lending retains its five stars

26 April 2006

Macquarie Margin Lending has once again retained its five star margin lending star rating awarded by independent financial services research agency CANNEX.

The CANNEX margin lending star ratings provides the industry with a benchmark when comparing margin lenders and their products.  It analyses Margin Loan products provided by 13 financial institutions in Australia and takes into consideration historical and current interest rates, product features, lending ratios and fees.

Products that achieve a five star rating are classed as "superior products" and must offer exceptional value for money and be highly competitive in all aspects of the star ratings process.

The five star rating follows recent enhancements to Macquarie Margin Lending's products, including the addition of 28 shares to its Approved Securities List, and increased Loan to Value ratios (LVRs) on over 100 of its listed Australian shares.

Macquarie Margin Lending now offers LVRs on the largest number of manged funds and stocks combined, and offers the highest number of stocks with an LVR of at least 70 per cent.

Macquarie Margin Lending's Head of Sales and Marketing, Peter van der Westhuyzen, said the five star rating is a result of Macquarie's commitment to ongoing product development and its focus on providing the highest level of service.

"After years of consulting with our advsier base and asking them what they want in a margin lending product, we have continued to focus our business on developing superior product features and services," Mr van der Westhuyzen said.

"To facilitate this we have implemented a continuous review of our existing risk management framework, systems and product offering, and as a result we have recently increased the LVRs on 114 of our Australian Listed Shares and added 28 new shares and over 600 managed funds to this list," he said.

He said the five star rating meant that Macquarie Margin Lending's product offering and client service were of the highest standard, something that Macquarie would continue to strive for.

"We believe we provide an excellent margin lending solution for our clients, and by consistently attaining a five star rating we have confirmation that our advisers and clients are benefiting from the best offering in the market," he said.

Macquarie Margin Lending is a leading provider of protected lending and margin lending products in Australia. Macquarie has a national team of specialists in distribution, products, marketing, and client services dedicated to providing premium products and services to advisers, distributors, and investors.

For further information please contact:

Irene O'Brien
Head of PR & Communication
Macquarie Financial Services Group
Macquarie Funds Management Group
Tel: (612) 8232 3241
Mobile: (61) 417 260 309

Peter van der Westhuyzen
Head of Sales and Marketing
Macquarie Margin Lending
Tel: (61 2) 8232 6109