MaxCap Group: institutional real estate credit for developers and investors

MaxCap Group sits at the institutional end of Australian private lending. Its money goes into apartment projects, land subdivisions, office repositionings and other commercial real estate, usually in amounts that would make a typical small business loan look like rounding. If you’re a developer or a property investor running sizeable projects, it may well be on your list. If you run a café, a trade business or a clinic and need working capital, this profile will mostly tell you to look elsewhere, and we’ll point you to where.

The facts below come from MaxCap’s own website as at October 2026.

What is MaxCap Group?

MaxCap describes itself as a specialised real estate fund manager across Australia and New Zealand, with commercial real estate credit at its core. A few reference points from its site:

• Founded in 2007 in Melbourne by Wayne Lasky and Brae Sokolski.
• Offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland, which it calls on-the-ground origination in five markets.
• $8b in funds under management and advice as at 30 June 2026, including committed capital and deal syndications.
• $22b invested and advised since inception, with institutional mandates since 2011.
• Apollo Global Management became a substantial shareholder in 2021.

In plain terms, MaxCap raises money from investors (institutions, wealthy individuals and advisers’ clients) and lends it against property. That’s the model behind most of the large private credit names in this directory, including Metrics Credit Partners and Zagga.

What does it lend against?

MaxCap’s website is written for investors, so the clearest picture of its lending comes from how it describes the MaxCap Investment Trust:

Trust option	Loan position	Weighted average LVR
First Mortgage	100% senior, first mortgage loans only	65% to 70%
High Yield	Mostly first mortgage, plus 0% to 49% in mezzanine loans	70% to 75%

The trust also discusses risks particular to construction loans, which tells you development funding is part of the book. Beyond that, MaxCap doesn’t publish loan sizes, minimum terms, eligible locations or a borrower checklist.

Two terms matter here. A senior or first mortgage lender is paid first if a project goes wrong. A mezzanine lender sits behind it, takes more risk and charges more for that. Our mezzanine finance page and the glossary entry on senior debt explain the order of repayment in detail.

How a developer’s capital stack might look

Here’s an invented example to show where a lender like MaxCap fits. A developer plans a mid-rise residential project with total costs of $40m.

• Senior construction loan: a first mortgage lender funds, say, $26m, drawn progressively as the builder completes stages.
• Mezzanine loan: a second lender adds $4m behind it, lifting total debt toward the upper end of what the project can carry.
• Developer equity: the remaining $10m comes from the developer and its partners, and it’s the first money lost if sales disappoint.

A credit manager like MaxCap could appear in the senior slot, the mezzanine slot, or both. The weighted average LVRs it publishes for its trust give a feel for how conservatively that debt is sized against completed value. For a closer look at how construction and site funding differ, see development finance vs a construction loan.

Not running a $40m project, but still need property-backed funds? Share the basics with our team and we’ll suggest lenders that work at your scale.

Who MaxCap suits, and who it doesn’t

A sensible reading of MaxCap’s public material suggests it suits:

• Established developers with a track record, a feasibility study, planning approval or a clear path to it, and their own equity in the deal.
• Commercial property investors repositioning or refinancing larger assets, such as office, retail or mixed-use buildings.
• Sponsors whose project falls outside a bank’s construction policy, for example on presales, timing or loan size, and who are prepared to pay more for a lender with room to move.

It’s unlikely to suit:

• small and medium businesses needing working capital, stock or equipment money;
• owner-occupiers wanting a loan against their home or factory for business cash flow;
• anyone who needs a published product, a fixed process and a quick online quote.

Banks remain the cheapest source of construction funding for developers who meet their presales and equity requirements, and that’s worth testing first. Private credit managers earn their fee where bank policy runs out.

What to ask before taking private real estate credit

Whether it’s MaxCap or a peer, the questions that protect you are similar:

1. What is the full dollar cost of the facility, including establishment, line fees on undrawn amounts, legal costs and any exit fee?
2. How are progress draws approved? Who signs off on each stage, and how long does a drawdown take once the quantity surveyor reports?
3. What triggers a default beyond missed payments? Look closely at cost-to-complete tests, presales covenants and sunset dates.
4. If there’s a mezzanine piece, what does the intercreditor deed allow the senior lender to do?
5. What happens if sales are slow? Ask whether the loan can be refinanced into residual stock finance and on what terms.

In 2025 ASIC published a commissioned report on private credit that raised questions about fee transparency and valuation practices across parts of the sector. It’s aimed mostly at the investor side, but it’s a fair reminder for borrowers to get every fee in writing.

Smaller deal? Better options than an institutional fund

If MaxCap’s scale is clearly beyond what you need, match your situation to one of these:

• Land or a small subdivision under a few million dollars: see land loans for business and construction and development finance.
• Finished units not selling fast enough: residual stock loans refinance completed stock while you sell.
• Buying or refinancing your premises: start with commercial property loans.
• Cash flow against property you already own: second mortgage business loans or caveat loans can be arranged quickly from $20k.

Run any development numbers through our property development funding guide before you approach a lender.

Find the lender that matches the size of your project

MaxCap is a heavyweight lender built for heavyweight projects. Most business owners searching its name need something more modest, and the real question is which lender in the middle of the market will move fastest on their deal.

That’s a question we can answer. Our form asks for the essentials and takes roughly a minute; there’s no credit enquiry triggered by filling it in. We don’t blast your file out to every funder we know. One of our lending specialists reads it and phones you directly. Please be precise about the project, the security and the timeline, because that’s what lets us put the right lender in front of you on the first go.

Talk to us about your project →