| Headline: Asset-backed bonds - New frontiers in securitization Source: Euromoney Date: February 2000 Author: Marcus Walker The techniques of securitization, developed for shifting loans off your balance sheet or refinancing consumer lending, are being applied to a growing variety of tasks. The experts are marketing their box of tricks to anyone with a predictable cashflow. The US asset-backed market is large and diverse, but mostly commoditized. Some of the more inventive applications in 2000 may be seen in Europe. Marcus Walker reports
Sicilian fishermen. Italy refinanced part of its social security fund with an asset-backed bond Specialists in US asset-backed bonds talk as if their market has reached the height of development. It's certainly a big market, with around $250 billion in issuance last year and an expectation of 5% to 10% growth in 2000. The staple diet is the refinancing of mortgages, credit card lending, auto loans and corporate loans. Information about the behaviour of the various types of collateral is available to the US's well-informed and experienced investors. As Phil Weingord, global co-head of asset finance at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) says: "The strength of the US market stems from the diversity of asset types securitized and the diversity of issuers accessing the market. |