Avanti becomes the second largest non-bank lender

It has achieved this with high growth year after year to produce a company with assets ten times larger than they were seven years ago.

This has been revealed in the latest survey of non-bank lenders by the accountancy firm KPMG.

Its total assets were $1.615 billion. While this was half the level of the leader, UDC Finance, it was slightly ahead of the next contenders, Latitude Financial Services, which was last year's second place getter, and Toyota Finance New Zealand.

And it was significantly ahead of known brands like the First Mortgage Trust, Harmoney or the Nelson Building Society.