NAB has several innovative equity lending investment products that enable investors to borrow money to invest in shares. NAB’s Equity Builder product enables investors to borrow without the risk of a margin call, and NAB’s Super Leaver product enables Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) investors to use leverage within super. Nab also offers a standard Margin Loan product. This article discusses the key benefits and risks for each of these products as well as how the Equity Builder and Super Lever products compare to our traditional margin loan.

NAB Equity Builder

NAB Equity Builder is a ‘no margin call’ investment loan that enables you to borrow to invest in financial assets such as exchange traded funds (ETFs), listed investment companies (LICs) and managed funds. The key features of the equity lending product are:

• A principal & interest investment loan for managed investments
• A flexible loan term from 3 – 10 years
• Monthly repayments with early pay off possible
• A variable interest rate
• No margin call and no ongoing fees

Once the loan is available, you can drawdown and invest the borrowed funds at any time in any amount starting from $10,000.

When you’ve repaid the equity lending loan, you have a range of options. You can keep your portfolio of assets as an additional income stream, reinvest the income or take some of the income to spend on the things that matter to you.

NAB Equity Builder can offer investors

• Greater control: NAB Equity Builder allows you to customise the loan to suit your particular investment goals by selecting your preferred investments, starting loan amount, style of principal repayment, and time frame to repay the loan.
• Greater stability: Instead of using your home as security, the investments purchase with the loan funds will be held as security for the loan. As there are no margin calls, price movements in the security supporting the loan won’t trigger the need for any corrective action (ie the acceleration of loan repayments, or the sale of loan security); regardless of the value of the outstanding loan. However, the loan still needs to be repaid in full by the end of the loan term despite any changes in the price of the investments.
• Increasing portfolio diversity: Borrowing to invest can be used to diversify your portfolio or enable you to increase your exposure to a preferred investment theme. In some cases, it may also increase the return on your investment, when the investment outperforms the cost of borrowing. If it does not outperform borrowing costs, you may face a loss on your investment.
• Growing Equity: As with a standard principal and interest loan the NAB Equity Builder loan requires the repayment of principal and interest, meaning that the loan balance used to calculate loan interest is constantly decreasing.

NAB Super Lever

The NAB Super Lever product combines the features of a standard margin loan with a design that caters for SMSF. Investors can choose from 100+ ASX listed shares and ETFs as well as unlisted managed funds.

• Limited recourse: NAB’s recourse against the SMSF is limited to the acquired asset held as loan security.
• Simplicity and flexibility: When you decide to make an investment, you simply send us a form with your investment request and arrange to provide the required cash contribution. Note that the equity lending loan must be drawn down in one tranche and the loan funds can only be applied to purchase a single asset. As an example, a bundle of share in a company constitute a single asset.
• The SMSF receive income distributions: Cash dividends and distributions flow directly to you the SMSF as the beneficial owner of the investment. This income can be used by the SMSF to reinvest or reduce an existing NAB Super Lever loan balance.

As the SMSF trustee, you can choose:

1. The investment from a broad range of approved investments
2. The preferred gearing level
3. Whether to capitalise loan interest
4. Whether to make use of non-SMSF owned security to support the loan via a guarantee, and
5. When to repay the loan.

 NAB margin loans

We also offer a standard margin loan where you borrow money to invest in a portfolio of listed securities and/or managed funds. The borrowed funds are then secured against the portfolio of financial assets.

Invest when opportunities arise

As this product does contain the potential for a margin call, there are certain occurrences to be aware of:

Margin calls: If a portfolio’s value falls so that the amount of equity an investor holds falls below a minimum required level, we can ask the investor to provide additional security for the loan or require the loan balance to be reduced. If an investor fails to do this, we may sell their assets to correct the position.

Reduced gearing levels: We regularly review our lending ratios and may decrease them, even for securities an investor already owns. When that happens, it can sometimes trigger a margin call.

Suspended securities: If an investor’s securities get suspended from trading, we may ask the investor to pay down the loan balance or provide additional security for the loan.

Increased rates: If an investor has a variable interest rate on their loan, it may increase. To manage this risk, investors should ensure they gear conservatively and have enough capital to deal with a rate rise. Investors can manage this risk by offsetting any distributions or income received from securities against the balance of the loan.

Increased losses: While leverage may amplify gains, it also amplifies any losses in a falling market.

Important Information

The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, we recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and that you seek independent legal, financial and taxation advice before acting on any of this information. All credit products are provided by National Australia Bank Limited ABN 12 004 044 937 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 230686 (NAB). Terms, conditions, fees, charges, eligibility and credit criteria apply. ©2023 NAB Private Wealth is a division of National Australia Bank Limited ABN 12 004 044 937 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 230686.