TORONTO, Dec. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - First National Mortgage Investment Fund (the "Fund") is pleased to announce that First National Financial Corporation, an affiliate of First National Asset Management Inc., a promoter of the Fund, has agreed to acquire by way of private placement, concurrently with the closing of the initial public offering of the units of the Fund ("Units") (the "Offering"), Class H Units of the Fund at a price of $10.00 per Class H Unit in an amount that is equal to the lesser of: (i) 1 million Class H Units, and (ii) that number of Class H Units as would be equal to 20% of the number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering.  The Class H Units will be non-voting, will not be listed on a stock exchange and will be convertible into the Units on a monthly basis.   The private placement remains subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX").

The Offering is scheduled to close on December 19, 2012.  The TSX has conditionally approved the listing of the Units under the symbol FNM.UN, subject to the fulfillment of TSX requirements.

The Fund has been created to obtain economic exposure to a diversified portfolio of mortgages originated by First National Financial LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of First National Financial Corporation.

The Fund's investment objectives are to:

(i)     provide holders of units with tax-advantaged monthly cash distributions; and

(ii)     preserve capital.

The distributions are initially targeted to be 6.0% per annum on the subscription price of $10.00 per unit ($0.05 per unit per month or $0.60 per annum).  Commencing in December 2013, the Fund will announce, at least annually, the expected distribution amount for the following twelve months.

Stone Asset Management Limited will act as manager and portfolio manager of the Fund.

First National Financial Corporation is a Canadian-based originator, underwriter and servicer of predominantly prime residential (single-family and multi-unit) and commercial mortgages.

The syndicate of agents for this offering is being co-led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC and TD Securities Inc., and includes BMO Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., Scotiabank, Canaccord Genuity Corp., GMP Securities L.P., Raymond James Ltd., Desjardins Securities Inc., Dundee Securities Ltd. and Macquarie Private Wealth Inc.

About First National:
First National Financial Corporation (TSX: FN) is the parent company of First National Financial LP, a Canadian-based originator, underwriter and servicer of predominantly prime residential (single-family and multi-unit) and commercial mortgages.  With over $63 billion in mortgages under administration, First National Financial Corporation believes it is the largest lender of single-family residential mortgages in Canada outside the five largest chartered banks and one of the largest multi-unit and commercial mortgage lenders in Canada.  For more information, please visit www.firstnational.ca.

About Stone Asset Management Limited:
Stone Asset Management Limited manages a family of open-ended mutual funds, a series of flow-through limited partnerships and a TSX-listed investment fund. SAM specializes in structuring and managing high quality investment products and currently has approximately $685 million in assets under management.

SOURCE First National Mortgage Investment Fund