Adding a sterling tranche to its latest residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issue was crucial for Firstmac, the issuer says, as strong issuance volume is providing strong competition for the real-money appetite on which it depends in the AUD market. The £85 million (US$136.9 million) tranche of Firstmac Mortgage Funding Trust Series 2E-2013 was oversubscribed and upsized, while the issuer noticed reduced appetite for domestic notes compared with its previous market visit in June this year.