SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwired - May 5, 2014) - Freedom Financial Network, LLC (FFN) announced that it has received a capital commitment of $110 million from alternative investment manager Aequitas Capital Management. FFN will use this capital to fund consumer lending through its FreedomPlus™ platform.
FreedomPlus specializes in underwriting emerging-prime consumers through a proprietary underwriting process that delivers lower cost loans for borrowers and lower risk consumer loan portfolios for accredited investors.
"FreedomPlus is uniquely able to identity and qualify deserving borrowers that would otherwise be ignored by traditional financial institutions or alternative lenders," said Andrew Housser, co-founder of Freedom Financial Network and CEO of Freedom Plus. "FreedomPlus provides investors like Aequitas a compelling and low-risk way to broaden their consumer lending portfolio."
FreedomPlus serves the approximately 80 million mid-credit Americans who are underserved due to big banks' focus on super-prime lending products. Using a hybrid underwriting process that combines traditional credit data with real-time consumer inputs, FreedomPlus is able to provide personalized and competitively priced loans that more accurately account for a borrower's unique financial circumstances. The FreedomPlus platform offers consumers and investors significant advantages over the peer-to-peer lending model.
FreedomPlus President and Chief Investment Officer Joseph Toms said: "We are extremely excited to be working with Aequitas. We share the view that there is a substantial opportunity to provide deserving consumers better access to affordable credit. Aequitas' capital commitment is a clear validation of this thesis and brings the total capital commitments FreedomPlus has received to $235 million." Toms is a veteran asset management executive and the only C-level executive to have served at leading P2P lenders Lending Club and Prosper.
"Aequitas Capital has a long tradition of providing credit solutions to underserved markets," stated Bob Jesenik, Aequitas Capital's CEO. "The proprietary underwriting process and innovative technology that FreedomPlus uses to fill the gap for worthy consumers aligns perfectly with our investment management philosophy."
"With reasonable rates for borrowers and attractive returns for investors, the Aequitas investment in FreedomPlus is another example of the win-win scenarios we look to fund," added Jason MacRae, Aequitas' head of Credit Investments, who led the transaction.
For more information on FreedomPlus, please visit http://www.freedomplus.com.
About Aequitas Capital
Founded in 1993, Aequitas Capital is an alternative investment management company dedicated to innovation, discipline and excellence. With proven expertise in finance, management and technology -- Aequitas sources, structures and implements Private Credit and Private Equity solutions, benefiting the individuals and institutions that trust us as a valuable investment partner.
About Freedom Financial Network
Freedom Financial Network (FFN) provides comprehensive consumer credit and financial advocacy services. Through its Bills.com, Freedom Debt Relief, Freedom Tax Relief, ConsolidationPlus and FreedomPlus products, FFN provides comprehensive financial solutions, including debt resolution, debt consolidation and tax resolution services for financially challenged consumers. Through its Freedom Debt Relief subsidiary, FFN has resolved more than $2.5 billion in debt for more than 200,000 clients since 2002. FDR is an accredited member of the American Fair Credit Council.
Based in San Mateo, Calif., and Tempe, Ariz., FFN has more than 600 employees, and has been voted one of the best places to work in the San Francisco Bay area in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013, and in the Phoenix area in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. FFN's founders are recipients of the Northern California Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Contact Information:
Michael Azzano
Cosmo PR for FreedomPlus
415/596-1978
michael@cosmo-pr.com