Three people have left Australian Unity Investments' (AUI) mortgage team as the business looks to scale back its operations due to market conditions.
National lending manager Phil Preston has retired from the firm, while lending manager Neville Gregory and credit analyst Carmine Cimilio have been retrenched.
"We have decided to scale down the business given the impact of the market on the portfolio," AUI head of mortgages Roy Prasad said.
Prasad said loans worth around $200,000 were no longer available to originate.
"Consequently, we decided to scale down our business," he said.
He said the mortgage funds were hit by outflows following the government bank guarantee. Subsequently, the firm imposed quarterly capped redemptions for the funds in October 2008.
In May, the firm changed the redemption policy on its Mortgage Income Trust. Investors in the fund can now redeem up to 1 per cent of their total investment or a minimum of $1000 every month.
"This is a permanent change and we believe liquidity levels will continue to stabilise," Prasad said.
He said the firm was still committed to the mortgage sector.
"The sector is working its way through market conditions but we remain confident. It is still business as usual," he said.
