Jonathan Weil, CFA, is the managing director of Weil Capital Management (WCM). Weil has decided to reevaluate the asset backed security (ABS) positions in his investors' portfolios since a recent, and severe, credit problem in the subprime lending industry has had ripple effects on other fixed- income markets. Weil expects the interest rate term structure to remain flat, but shift upward as credit terms tighten. Weil has asked one of his analysts, Vanessa Ordon, to assist him in analyzing potential ABS investments, including some products he is unfamiliar with.Ordon provides an assessment of ABS backed by auto loans, credit card receivables, and closed end home equity loans. Ordon has assembled the following information on the collateral, credit enhancements, and prepayment risk associated with each type of ABS.Ordon has also assembled the following information on the structure of a closed end home equity loan (HEL) asset backed security. Ordon has presented the security to Weil as a potential investment opportunity, but Weil is concerned about its default and prepayment risks. The HEL ABS does not have a shifting interest mechanism.Ordon has also developed an assessment of mortgage backed securities (MBS). Ordon has assembled the following information related to a mortgage backed security.Has Ordon correctly described the features of auto loan and credit card receivable backed ABS with respect to the securities' collateral?
Answer(s): B
Ordon is not correct with regard to auto loan ABS collateral. The collateral structure for ABS backed by amortizing assets (such as auto loans) generally does not change once the security is issued. The collateral simply gets smaller as the loans are paid off by the borrower. In contrast, the collateral structure for ABS backed by nonamortizing assets (such as credit card receivables) changes during the lockout period. During the lockout period, principal payments on the collateral are used to purchase additional collateral assets. This is known as a revolving structure. As part of the structure, a call provision, which causes cash flows to be directed at principal reduction rather than purchasing new collateral assets, is usually included. One such call provision is a cleanup call, which is triggered by a decline in the value of the collateral. Thus, Ordon is correct with regard to credit card receivable ABS collateral. (Study Session 15, LOS 56 c)
Jonathan Weil, CFA, is the managing director of Weil Capital Management (WCM). Weil has decided to reevaluate the asset backed security (ABS) positions in his investors' portfolios since a recent, and severe, credit problem in the subprime lending industry has had ripple effects on other fixed- income markets. Weil expects the interest rate term structure to remain flat, but shift upward as credit terms tighten. Weil has asked one of his analysts, Vanessa Ordon, to assist him in analyzing potential ABS investments, including some products he is unfamiliar with.Ordon provides an assessment of ABS backed by auto loans, credit card receivables, and closed end home equity loans. Ordon has assembled the following information on the collateral, credit enhancements, and prepayment risk associated with each type of ABS.Ordon has also assembled the following information on the structure of a closed end home equity loan (HEL) asset backed security. Ordon has presented the security to Weil as a potential investment opportunity, but Weil is concerned about its default and prepayment risks. The HEL ABS does not have a shifting interest mechanism.Ordon has also developed an assessment of mortgage backed securities (MBS). Ordon has assembled the following information related to a mortgage backed security.Which of the following statements regarding the types of credit enhancement for the auto loan and credit card receivable ABS described by Ordon is most likely correct?
Answer(s): A
The credit enhancement described for the auto loan ABS is an internal credit enhancement known as an excess servicing spread. Under the excess servicing spread, the ABS issuer pays a coupon to investors that is less than the coupon earned on the collateral. The excess of cash inflows over cash outflows is used to fund credit losses in the collateral. The credit enhancement described for the credit card receivable ABS is an external credit enhancement known as a letter of credit. A letter of credit is a third party, usually a bank, guarantee against collateral losses up to a certain point. Defaults on the collateral are thus mitigated to a certain extent. Third party guarantees are subject to the weak-link philosophy and any credit downgrades associated with the third party will negatively affect the rating of the ABS. (Study Session J 5, LOS 56.d)
Jonathan Weil, CFA, is the managing director of Weil Capital Management (WCM). Weil has decided to reevaluate the asset backed security (ABS) positions in his investors' portfolios since a recent, and severe, credit problem in the subprime lending industry has had ripple effects on other fixed- income markets. Weil expects the interest rate term structure to remain flat, but shift upward as credit terms tighten. Weil has asked one of his analysts, Vanessa Ordon, to assist him in analyzing potential ABS investments, including some products he is unfamiliar with.Ordon provides an assessment of ABS backed by auto loans, credit card receivables, and closed end home equity loans. Ordon has assembled the following information on the collateral, credit enhancements, and prepayment risk associated with each type of ABS.Ordon has also assembled the following information on the structure of a closed end home equity loan (HEL) asset backed security. Ordon has presented the security to Weil as a potential investment opportunity, but Weil is concerned about its default and prepayment risks. The HEL ABS does not have a shifting interest mechanism.Ordon has also developed an assessment of mortgage backed securities (MBS). Ordon has assembled the following information related to a mortgage backed security.Evaluate Ordon's description of the prepayment risk associated with auto loan and credit card receivable backed ABS. Ordon is:
Ordon has correctly described the prepayment risk of the auto loan ABS. Because auto loans are short-term loans and the underlying asset (the automobile) has a tendency to rapidly depreciate in the early years, there is little incentive for borrowers to prepay the loan even if interest rates decline. Borrowers who take out an auto loan generally do not refinance their vehicles as interest rates decline. Weil is forecasting an increase in interest rates, which is unlikely to have a significant effect on the prepayment rate of the auro loan ABS. Ordon has not correctly described the prepayment risk of the credit card receivable ABS. During the lockout period any principal payments (and prepayments) are used to purchase additional collateral for the ABS. Thus, any changes in prepayment rates induced by interest rate changes would be offset by additional purchases of collateral. A contraction, or extension, would be unlikely to occur. (Study Session 15, LOS 56.b,e)
Jonathan Weil, CFA, is the managing director of Weil Capital Management (WCM). Weil has decided to reevaluate the asset backed security (ABS) positions in his investors' portfolios since a recent, and severe, credit problem in the subprime lending industry has had ripple effects on other fixed- income markets. Weil expects the interest rate term structure to remain flat, but shift upward as credit terms tighten. Weil has asked one of his analysts, Vanessa Ordon, to assist him in analyzing potential ABS investments, including some products he is unfamiliar with.Ordon provides an assessment of ABS backed by auto loans, credit card receivables, and closed end home equity loans. Ordon has assembled the following information on the collateral, credit enhancements, and prepayment risk associated with each type of ABS.Ordon has also assembled the following information on the structure of a closed end home equity loan (HEL) asset backed security. Ordon has presented the security to Weil as a potential investment opportunity, but Weil is concerned about its default and prepayment risks. The HEL ABS does not have a shifting interest mechanism.Ordon has also developed an assessment of mortgage backed securities (MBS). Ordon has assembled the following information related to a mortgage backed security.Which of the following best describes the initial reaction of the home equity loan backed ABS Ordon presented to Weil if there is a collateral default of $30 million?
The home equity loan ABS has an internal credit enhancement known as over-collateralization. The principal of the collateral equals $475 million. The principal of the tranches, however, totals only $450 million (180 + 112.5 + 67.5 + 36 + 54). The over-collateralization feature is included in ABS to protect the tranches from collateral defaults. Thus $25 million of the $30 million default stated in the question would first be absorbed by the extra collateral. This leaves a $5 million default that must be absorbed by one of the tranches. Tranche E has been subordinated to Tranches A - D, a structure known as credit tranching. Losses resulting from defaults (a credit event) are absorbed by Tranche E first until the principal backing the tranche is exhausted. The remaining $5 million default gets absorbed by Tranche E, reducing the principal to $49 million (54 - 5). (Study Session 15, LOS 56.b,e)
Jonathan Weil, CFA, is the managing director of Weil Capital Management (WCM). Weil has decided to reevaluate the asset backed security (ABS) positions in his investors' portfolios since a recent, and severe, credit problem in the subprime lending industry has had ripple effects on other fixed-income markets. Weil expects the interest rate term structure to remain flat, but shift upward as credit terms tighten. Weil has asked one of his analysts, Vanessa Ordon, to assist him in analyzing potential ABS investments, including some products he is unfamiliar with.Ordon provides an assessment of ABS backed by auto loans, credit card receivables, and closed end home equity loans. Ordon has assembled the following information on the collateral, credit enhancements, and prepayment risk associated with each type of ABS.Ordon has also assembled the following information on the structure of a closed end home equity loan (HEL) asset backed security. Ordon has presented the security to Weil as a potential investment opportunity, but Weil is concerned about its default and prepayment risks. The HEL ABS does not have a shifting interest mechanism.Ordon has also developed an assessment of mortgage backed securities (MBS). Ordon has assembled the following information related to a mortgage backed security.The prepayment speed on the home equity loan ABS has been constant at 200 PPC. If the prepayment rate suddenly increased to 350 PPC, which of the following tranches would have the largest contraction?
Answer(s): C
If the prepayment speed has been a constant 200 PPC (or 200% of the prospectus payment curve), then Tranches A, B, and C have been receiving principal payments as scheduled. This occurs since the prepayment speed falls within the PAC collar. Tranche D is a designated support tranche for the PAC tranches and will absorb excess prepayments in order to maintain the scheduled prepayments for the PAC tranches. This type of structure is known as prepayment tranching (i.e., one or more tranches absorbs faster or slower prepayments to decrease the prepayment risk of other tranches). The PAC II tranche (Tranche C) could potentially absorb a greater amount of prepayments since PAC II tranches also support the PAC I tranches. Since prepayments have been within the initial collar up to this point, however, it is less likely that excess prepayments would be large enough to wipe out Tranche D, thereby forcing Tranche C to absorb excess prepayments. Tranche D will have the greatest contraction since it has no prepayment protection mechanisms in place. (Study Session 15. LOS 56.b,e)
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