Automation Finance

Automation Finance is a Manhattan-based distressed debt fund founded in 2015 by Paul Birkett, a former Procter & Gamble executive. The firm specializes in acquiring non-performing residential mortgages (NPLs) — home loans on which borrowers have stopped making payments — at a significant discount to their unpaid principal balance. After purchasing a pool of these loans, AF's team of legal specialists works directly with homeowners to negotiate modified repayment plans, aiming to convert delinquent loans back into income-producing, "re-performing" assets. Once re-performing, the loans can be held for yield or resold on the secondary market for a profit.

Investors participate through a pooled fund structure. The current (and most recently public) vehicle was Automation Finance Reperformance Fund IV LLC, a Delaware LLC qualified by the SEC under Regulation A+ (Tier II). Fund IV targeted up to $50 million in capital from the general public — the first of AF's four funds open to non-accredited investors — and set a target return of 8% annually, distributed monthly. The three prior funds were offered exclusively to accredited investors under Regulation D and reportedly delivered a weighted-average return of 21.5% across their lifespans. Fund IV closed to new investments in March 2022. Prospective investors should confirm directly with Automation Finance whether a new fund is currently accepting capital.