Complete news archive

  • MS names structured credit chief

    Morgan Stanley is moving one of its EMEA capital markets co-heads into Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Claus Skrumsager will take control of a structured credit team and fund that is yet to be finalised.

    Skrumsager will join the firm's solutions and multi-asset platform as portfolio manager and head of private structured credit solutions. He has been with Morgan Stanley for 10 .......

    Job Swaps 20 January 2017

  • Investment firm bulks out

    Partners Group has hired Andrew Bellis as md. He joins from 3i Debt Management and is based at the firm's London office.

    At 3iDM, Bellis was also md and helped managed its CLO strategy. Before that, he was a director at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch.

    .......

    Job Swaps 20 January 2017

  • CLO firm nabs SF vet

    CIFC has hired Jason Ziegler as md and he will be based out of the firm's New York office. He joins from Orix Corporation, where he was portfolio manager for structured products, including CLOs, RMBS and ABS. Prior to Orix, he was a director in the structured products group for Highland Capital Management, focusing on CLOs.

    .......

    Job Swaps 20 January 2017

  • Investment grade loss for CMBS 2.0

    The US CMBS 2.0 market has seen its biggest loss to date, following the liquidation of the US$48.9m Hudson Valley Mall loan - securitised in CFCRE 2011-C1 - at an 80.4% severity on the US$52.4m original balance. The loss forced full write-downs on the NR, G and F classes, while the triple-B minus rated E tranche absorbed a US$7.2m hit.

    News 20 January 2017

  • CLO test ahead

    The second session in a row of high BWIC volumes looks set to test the depth of the US CLO mezz rally seen so far in 2017.

    "It's another busy day in 2.0 mezz, which should truly test the market," says one trader. "We're sensing a little bit of exhaustion from buyers in 2.0 single- and double-Bs and saw a fair amount of .......

    SCIWire 19 January 2017

  • Card ABS volume to grow

    Credit card debt in the US is growing while credit card utilisation rates are trending lower, suggesting that consumers are using credit cards as a "convenient payment option and less as a line of credit", according to Wells Fargo structured products analysts. They add that credit card debt levels are at a much lower percentage of nominal GDP than in the past.

    News Round-up 19 January 2017

  • Reviewed combo notes downgraded

    CLO 2.0 combination notes have been downgraded by Moody's, following the rating agency's methodology change. Otherwise, CLO rating changes have generally been positive.

    Moody's criteria for rating securities backed by both secured debt and equity tranches of CLOs was updated at the start of 4Q16 (SCI 10 October 2016). Moody's placed on review for downgrade the ratings of 38 combination .......

    News Round-up 19 January 2017

  • FHFA seeks GSE mortgage feedback

    The FHFA is requesting public input on chattel loan pilot initiatives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and on proposed evaluation guidance on serving underserved markets. The FHFA issued a final rule on 13 December 2016 to implement duty to serve provisions.

    The GSEs must serve three specified underserved markets by improving the distribution and availability of mortgage financing in .......

    News Round-up 19 January 2017

  • Market risk highlighted

    Fitch highlights Delft 2017 (SCI 12 January), which it hasn't rated, as an example of an RMBS that could expose investors to the strength and liquidity of housing and lending markets in a concentrated period near bond maturity. The agency says that such concentrated refinancing risk in portfolios of high LTV ratio interest-only mortgage loans can result in rating caps .......

    News Round-up 19 January 2017

  • Unconstrained fund launched

    Dolfin has launched the Dolfin Unconstrained Credit Strategy, which targets consistently positive returns in all market contexts by capturing top-down market shifts and investing in attractive bottom-up opportunities across the global fixed income spectrum. Devised and managed by senior portfolio manager Alex Eventon, the strategy applies rare investment flexibility, institutional investment tools and dynamic risk management, with a performance target .......

    News Round-up 19 January 2017

  • Euro ABS/MBS accelerates

    Activity has accelerated in the European ABS/MBS secondary market after a slow start to the week.

    The continuing strong tone and investor cash reserves continue to fuel demand for paper, which has generated increased bilateral trading in most sectors over the past two sessions. At the same time, BWIC volumes remain low as sellers keep their powder dry, while the .......

    SCIWire 19 January 2017

  • Net negative

    GSE reform could have widespread impact

    Privatisation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have widespread negative consequences for the US RMBS and CMBS markets, as well as on availability of credit for the housing market. Encouraging private label issuance to step in as the GSEs scale back remains a significant challenge.

    Treasury Secretary designate, Steven Mnuchin, recently stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should .......

    News Analysis 19 January 2017

  • Varied approaches

    Retained risk valuation practices gauged

    The horizontal retention piece of a securitisation could be considered the very definition of a Level 3 asset: rarely traded - if ever - with very limited market information. Subject to fair value assessment before and after a deal closes, market participants are taking a number of different valuation approaches to such assets, with no single method yet considered to .......

    News Analysis 19 January 2017

  • Bar loan ruling 'ABS negative'

    A 2016 ruling by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York on the dischargeability of bar loans is credit negative for securitisations, says Moody's. The ruling found that a bar loan was not exempt from being discharged, which is credit negative because it could lead to future higher defaults and lower recoveries on similar loans.

    The .......

    News Round-up 18 January 2017

  • ILS firm launched

    A new alternative asset management firm focused on ILS investments has been founded in Tel Aviv. Dubbed IBI ILS Partners, it has been co-founded by Israel's IBI Investment House and Roman Muraviev.

    Muraviev will act as managing partner of IBI ILS Partners. He was previously at Twelve Capital, where he managed the firm's cat bond strategy.

    IBI Investment House is one .......

    Job Swaps 18 January 2017

  • RFC issued on IO approach

    DBRS is requesting comment on its proposed stand-alone methodology for rating North American CMBS interest-only certificates issued via multi-borrower conduits, as well as agency, single-asset/single-borrower, CRE CLO and re-REMIC deals. It reflects a movement from rating these certificates using their position in the waterfall to rating the referenced notional amount to account for a decline in payments as the transaction .......

    News Round-up 18 January 2017

  • Modelling head named

    MSCI has recruited David Zhang as head of securitised products research. In this newly created role, he will oversee the firm's development of models that help traders, portfolio managers and other institutional investors analyse risk and return for securitised products.

    Zhang previously headed modelling of securitised products at Credit Suisse. In 11 years at the firm, he designed models for .......

    Job Swaps 18 January 2017

  • Chrysler scandal 'ABS negative'

    The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to Fiat Chrysler because of the installation and use of engine management software to manipulate diesel emissions. Moody's notes that this is credit negative for some US auto ABS.

    The EPA violation notice cites more than 100,000 model year 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokees .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2017

  • Pension clearing opinions published

    ESMA has issued two opinions regarding the exemption of Swedish pension schemes from the obligation to centrally clear OTC derivative contracts under EMIR. Pension scheme arrangements meeting certain criteria were granted a transitional exemption from the clearing obligation, while some pension schemes are required to ask their national competent authority to be exempted.

    Before deciding on an exemption, the relevant .......

    News Round-up 17 January 2017

  • ILS firm placements head appointed

    XL Catlin has appointed Anne Middleton as global head of placements, ceded reinsurance. Middleton will be based in London and be responsible for overseeing and negotiating the terms, structure and pricing of XL Catlin's reinsurance programmes.

    Middleton will report to Mark van Zanden, chief executive of XL Catlin's P&C underwriting capital management team. She was previously head of finance for .......

    Job Swaps 17 January 2017

  • Euro secondary slow

    It's been slow start to the week so far for the European securitisation secondary markets.

    Participants look to have taken the opportunity of the US public holiday yesterday to catch their breath and there was little movement in terms of trading or levels. However, tone remains very strong across the board and volumes are likely to pick up as the .......

    SCIWire 17 January 2017
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