Qualitas funds soar as banks step back

Qualitas Ltd Group managing director Andrew Schwartz talked with Proactive at the ASX SMIDcaps Conference about the company's differentiated position in Australia's real estate investment management landscape.

Schwartz explained that Qualitas operates at scale, supported by large institutional capital.

“Some of those investors literally commit amounts of 1.7 billion and above to Qualitas,” he said, noting the firm can fund projects with hundreds of millions—territory once dominated by traditional banks.

Schwartz highlighted the company’s deep property expertise, developed over decades, as a key driver of performance. He said, “We are deep sector, deep dive property people,” which allows them to manage funds based not just on lending metrics but also on underlying property fundamentals.

The conversation also addressed Qualitas’ notable growth in funds management revenue since its 2021 IPO. Schwartz attributed this to structural shifts in the Australian finance market, where banks still represent 77% of a AU$477 billion sector—but their share is shrinking. “We’ve really got the benefit of filling a void in the market that the bank market just can’t fill,” he said.

Roughly 80% of Qualitas' activities are in the housing sector, financing large-scale residential projects rather than retail home loans. Schwartz said the persistent supply shortage, despite rising interest rates, underpins property values and creates strong demand for capital.

#Qualitas #RealEstateInvestment #InstitutionalCapital #AustralianHousing #PropertyFinance #AndrewSchwartz #HousingShortage #ASX #FundsManagement #ProactiveInvestors