Complete news archive

  • Real estate head hired

    BlackRock has recruited Jack Chandler as global head of real estate. He will oversee the firm's global real estate capabilities, which extend across the capital market structure and include both equity and debt investment products totalling approximately US$13b in assets under management.

    Chandler previously served as global cio and executive chairman, Asia for LaSalle Investment Management. He first joined LaSalle .......

    Job Swaps 19 April 2011

  • Tech trends show progress

    A new report from Celent confirms recent trends in ABS technology. The firm expects to see a continuation of the move towards more integrated offerings from solutions providers, with an emphasis on providing investors with greater access to information and analysis facilities.

    The report found that due diligence standards are becoming more comprehensive and sophisticated, while regulatory demands and investor .......

    News Round-up 19 April 2011

  • OLA effectiveness examined

    The FDIC has released a report examining how it could have structured an orderly resolution of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc under the orderly liquidation authority (OLA) of the Dodd-Frank Act, had that law been in effect in advance of Lehman's failure. The report suggests that the powers provided to the FDIC under the Dodd-Frank Act to act decisively to preserve .......

    News Round-up 19 April 2011

  • Japan dominates Q1 APAC downgrades

    A total of 20 Asia-Pacific structured finance tranches were downgraded in 1Q11 while just nine were upgraded, reports Fitch. The agency notes that 180 tranches were affirmed, indicating that the performance of most transactions remain in line with expectations.

    "Downgrades among the APAC structured finance tranches were once again dominated by Japanese CMBS tranches, mainly driven by further downward revisions .......

    News Round-up 19 April 2011

  • GSEs among drivers of US outlook change

    S&P has affirmed its triple-A long-term and A-1+ short-term sovereign credit ratings on the US, but has revised its outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable. The negative outlook signals that there is at least a one-in-three chance that the agency could lower its long-term rating on the sovereign within two years.

    The outlook reflects the increased risk .......

    News Round-up 19 April 2011

  • EM investment director named

    Michael Sandigursky has joined BlueCrest Capital Management as investment director, emerging markets credit. He will be focusing on loans, bonds, trade finance, commodities finance and bank balance sheet/regulatory capital relief transactions. Sandigursky was previously a quantitative credit strategist at Citi.

    .......

    Job Swaps 19 April 2011

  • ABCP methodologies updated

    S&P has updated its global methodologies for rating ABCP issued by multi-seller conduits. Following a request for comment in May 2008, new criteria for the classification and timing of new-seller transaction reviews has been introduced.

    The update applies to the agency's analysis of ABCP issued by multi-seller conduits in which the ABCP investor is exposed to the credit risk of .......

    News Round-up 19 April 2011

  • MBS vet moves on

    Passport Capital has hired Jeffrey Kong as a portfolio manager. He will be responsible for managing the firm's mortgage-backed and related fixed income strategy.

    Kong joins Passport from Structured Portfolio Management, where he was senior md and partner. He spent 10 years as portfolio manager for the firm's US$1bn flagship mortgage strategy and was responsible for asset selection, risk management .......

    Job Swaps 19 April 2011

  • EM fund manager acquired

    Principal Global Investors has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Finisterre Capital and Finisterre Holdings, an emerging markets fund manager based in London. Principal says the deal will enhance its emerging market investment capabilities and further strengthen its multi-boutique model.

    Finisterre has around US$1.63bn AUM primarily across three funds: the Global Opportunity Fund; the Sovereign Debt Fund; and the .......

    Job Swaps 19 April 2011

  • New Gleacher ceo named

    The board of directors at Gleacher & Company has appointed Thomas Hughes as ceo, starting on 2 May. He has also been nominated for election to the board at the company's stockholders' meeting on 19 May.

    Hughes was most recently chairman and ceo of LNR Property, the CRE special servicer. Prior to that, he was ceo of Global Deutsche Asset .......

    Job Swaps 18 April 2011

  • Liquid access

    Steven Grahame, fund manager, and Toby Hayes, assistant fund...

    Q: How and when did Pacific Real Estate Capital Partners become involved in the property derivatives market?
    SG:     Pacific's Liquid Property Fund received FSA approval on 26 January and is, together with the Euro ActivIncome Fund and segregated accounts, part of Pacific Real Estate Capital Partner business. I was previously cio, alternatives real estate at Hermes .......

    The Structured Credit Interview 18 April 2011

  • Assured RMBS claim settled

    Assured Guaranty says it has reached a comprehensive settlement with Bank of America and its subsidiaries, including Countrywide Financial Corporation, regarding their liabilities with respect to 29 RMBS insured by the monoline. The agreement includes claims relating to reimbursement for breaches of representations and warranties and historical loan servicing issues.

    The settlement agreement includes a payment of US$1.1bn to Assured .......

    News Round-up 18 April 2011

  • CMBS payoffs hit post-2008 high

    The percentage of US CMBS loans paying off on their balloon date posted the highest reading since December 2008, according to Trepp's March Payoff Report.

    "For only the second time since late 2008, the percentage cracked the 50% threshold - providing more evidence that the CMBS market continues to gain momentum," Trepp says.

    Overall, 55.5% of the loans reaching their .......

    News Round-up 18 April 2011

  • CRE CDO delinquencies drop on loan repayments

    Loan payoffs contributed to a decline in US CREL CDO delinquencies this past month, according to the latest index results from Fitch. CREL CDO delinquencies fell by 50bp to 14.1% in March from 14.6% in February.

    Two defaulted mezzanine loans backed by interests in a Las Vegas hotel property were paid off in full as part of a larger restructuring. .......

    News Round-up 18 April 2011

  • Cantor CMBS finding favour

    The US CMBS market ended last week on a positive note, with spreads tightening and anticipation building over Cantor Fitzgerald's first CMBS - CFCRE 2011-C1 (SCI 14 April). Meanwhile, the Maiden Lane II auctions continue to attract aggressive bids in the RMBS sector.

    "CMBS spreads are marginally tighter this week, particularly at the AM and AJ part of the capital .......

    Market Reports 18 April 2011

  • Softening standards support CMBS refis

    Concerns about the upcoming US CMBS maturity wave are being eased by a loosening of underwriting standards, according to CMBS analysts at Citi. Over half of the fixed rate loans scheduled to mature in 2011 are expected to be refinanced without any equity injection being required.

    The Citi analysts suggest that intense competition between banks, insurance companies, government agencies and .......

    News 18 April 2011

  • Analytics platform enhanced

    S&P's structured finance analytics platform ABSXchange has undergone a number of improvements that will allow clients to run projections against forecasted index rates and aggregate asset valuation metrics. It will also allow clients to utilise preset RMBS templates to simplify monitoring of portfolios, while overlaying scenarios created by assumptions from the latest RMBS Consensus Survey.

    The survey collects cashflow assumptions .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2011

  • Eerily quiet

    Hiring on hold as recruitment pattern changes

    It has been an unexpectedly slow start to the year for the structured finance job market. The typical surge of appointments normally seen in the first quarter has simply not materialised and recruiters are not convinced it will come any time soon, with a fundamental shift in recruitment taking place.

    "This last quarter has been a weird one and I .......

    News Analysis 15 April 2011

  • Asset management ceo named

    Jefferson National has appointed Sal Naro as ceo of its asset management group - JNF Asset Management - and vice-chairman of its parent company, Jefferson National Financial. As well as being on Jefferson's board of directors, Naro will be a key strategist in expanding the firm's franchise, while driving the performance and growth of its asset management business. He was .......

    Job Swaps 15 April 2011

  • Further Greek deals downgraded

    Moody's has downgraded the senior ratings of one Greek CLO, eight Greek RMBS and 10 Greek ABS transactions to Baa1 or lower. The agency has also downgraded the mezzanine and junior ratings on one ABS, while maintaining on review for possible downgrade its ratings on three ABS.

    This follows the downgrade of Greece's government bond rating to B1 and also .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2011

  • US CMBS delinquencies slip

    The delinquency rate on loans included in US CMBS conduit/fusion transactions inched down by 2bp in March to 9.16%, according to Moody's Delinquency Tracker (DQT). More significantly, the total dollar balance of delinquent loans for the US declined in March, slipping to US$56.5bn from US$56.8bn during the month. This was the first monthly decline in the balance since October 2007, .......

    News Round-up 15 April 2011
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