Equitable aiming for more non-guaranteed money

Chief executive Peter Thomas says Equitable cut the rate it was offering for one-year debentures, which come with a government guarantee, from 6.50% to 5.50%.

While the prospectus is open-ended with no minimum or maximum amount specified, "we're not a bottomless pit." Equitable has learnt from its own and other finance companies' experience that it isn't a great idea to have too large an influx of funds, Thomas says.

Equitable is offering debentures which aren't government guaranteed but the lion's share of funds attracted is for the guaranteed debentures, he says. Of the $187.2 million in debentures Equitable currently has on issue, $12.2 million is non-guaranteed, he says.

Still, the company needs to prepare for when the government guarantee runs out at the end of next year. Thomas is hoping non-guaranteed funding will have risen to about half the company's inflow by the middle of next year.