1987 - Year of the shrinking market?
"I expect 1927 to look a lot like 1986 in the volume total borrowings,' said Albert Lord, chief financial officer of Sallie Mae. "We'll probably borrow $3 billion next year. But I expect that a smaller percentage of the total will be offshore.'
About half the agency's financing in 1986 was in the Euromarkets. But the fall of the dollar has made offshore financing look less attractive. "It's problematic looking ahead,' said Lord, "because of the uncertainty that remains about the dollar.'
Sallie Mae has its own special difficulties. As a quasi-government agency, it warehouses federally guaranteed student loans. It has had to develop an investor base that is interested in a registered issue. "It's been difficult to compete in straight Eurodollar financings,' Lord explained, "because we sell a targeted, registered piece of paper. Europeans have not shown that they like the security. We've been forced to operate in areas of the market that are more unusual.'
Sallie Mae has tapped the Euro-yen, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar markets, in a series of innovative offerings over the past two years.