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Reading 55: Mortgage-Backed Sector of the Bond Market-LOS f

Session 15: Fixed Income: Structured Securities
Reading 55: Mortgage-Backed Sector of the Bond Market

LOS f: Explain the factors that affect prepayments and the types of prepayment risks.

 

 

 

Which of the following mortgage loan characteristics least likely affects prepayments?

A)

reputation of the lender with the agencies (e.g., Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae).

B)

original mortgage rate.

C)

type of loan (e.g., 30-year fixed rate, 15-year variable).




 

The reputation of the lender does not affect prepayments.

Which of the following is the best definition of contraction risk? The adverse consequences of:

A)
lower prepayment rates.
B)
expected prepayment rates.
C)
declining interest rates on passthrough securities.



A decrease in interest rates will give borrowers an incentive to prepay the loan and refinance the debt at a lower rate. Therefore, the maturity of the passthrough will contract. The second adverse consequence is that the cash flows resulting from prepayments have to be reinvested at a lower interest rate.

TOP

Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding prepayment risk?

A)

Reinvestment rate risk is a result of rising interest rates.

B)

Contraction risk refers to the shortening of the expected life of the mortgage pool due to falling interest rates.

C)

Investor in mortgage-backed securities must reinvest at lower rates when rates fall and borrowers prepay and are "stuck" with lower rates when rates rise and borrowers hold onto their mortgages.




Reinvestment rate risk is a result of falling interest rates, not rising rates.

TOP

All of the following are factors that affect prepayments EXCEPT:

A)
seasoning.
B)
the amount of overall mortgage loan activity in the market.
C)
characteristics of underlying mortgage loans.



The amount of overall mortgage activity does not impact prepayments.

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Walters learns that the difference between the net coupons given and the stated 50 bp servicing fee is held as an excess servicing spread. Which of the following is least likely a purpose of the excess servicing spread in Table 1?

A)
Paying for administrative and managerial expenses.
B)
Establishing an account to pay for possible future losses.
C)
Augmenting external credit enhancements.



The excess servicing spread is placed in a reserve account called the excess servicing spread account. It will gradually grow over the length of the loan, so that it provides increasing protection against possible future losses. These funds complement the cash reserves and enhance any external arrangements. (Study Session 15, LOS 58.d)


Which of the following best describes the relationship between the MBS passthrough and CMO and an ABS paythrough? An ABS paythrough structure is:

A)
created from an ABS passthrough structure in the same way a CMO is created from an MBS passthrough.
B)
created directly from the underlying loans unlike the way a CMO is created from an MBS passthrough.
C)
similar to an MBS passthrough security except when using non-agency-based mortgages as collateral.



A CMO is a paythrough structure. A pool of passthrough securities serves as collateral for CMO paythrough securities. In the ABS market, once the loans are pooled, either passthrough or paythrough securities may be issued – it is not necessary to first create passthroughs when creating a paythrough structure for an ABS. (Study Session 15, LOS 56.g)


An older investor with a short time horizon and a strong desire for extra income wishes to purchase a MBS or ABS. Which of the following is the most accurate choice?

A)
The senior tranche from the loan detailed above.
B)
Investment-grade bonds with short maturities, rather than ABS or MBSs.
C)
Subordinated tranche 3 from the loan detailed above.



Investors with short time horizons and a need for income wish to avoid extension risk. The senior tranche from the above loan pool offers a chance to collect high prepayments during the first few years. The subordinated tranches protect against contraction risk, and do not meet the investor’s needs. Short-maturity corporate bonds will return the principal quickly, but because of fixed coupon payments, will not provide extra income. (Study Session 15, LOS 56.g)


Suppose all of the securities in Table 1 were backed by auto loans. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the difference, if any, in prepayment characteristics of auto loans versus mortgages? Prepayments on auto loans:

A)
occur frequently, but are rarely affected by refinancing.
B)
rarely occur, since auto loans traditionally have short maturities and low interest rates.
C)
are affected by the same factors as mortgage prepayments.



Car loans tend to balances that are small enough so that the benefits from refinancing are small. Auto-loan prepayments occur whenever a car is sold, traded in, or wrecked—all of which are relatively frequent occurrences. Consequently, they are not affected by all the same underlying factors as mortgage loans. (Study Session 15, LOS 58.e)


Based on the information in the tables above, which investment offers the most protection against default?

A)
Loan group 4.
B)
Loan group 3.
C)
The senior tranche.



Loan group 4 has the highest excess servicing spread (9.20 ? 8.20 ? 0.50 = 0.50 or 50 bp excess servicing spread), which allows for the largest reserves against losses. The tranches offer protection against expansion or contraction risk, but probably have similar characteristics in terms of default risk. (Study Session 15, LOS 58.d)

TOP

Which of the following is the best definition of extension risk? The adverse consequences of:

A)
increasing interest rates on passthrough securities.
B)
lower prepayment rates.
C)
declining interest rates on passthrough securities.



Increasing interest rates will slow prepayments resulting in extending the maturity of the passthrough. This reduces the amount available to be invested at the currently high interest rates.

TOP

Which of the following best describes how a growing economy can affect prepayments? A growing economy:

A)
leads to increasing prepayments.
B)
does not affect prepayments.
C)
leads to decreasing prepayments.



The reason for this link is as follows: A growing economy leads to a rise in personal income and opportunities for worker migration and mobility. This results in higher housing turnover and therefore increasing prepayment rates.

TOP

Which of the following best describes prepayment risk?

A)
The lender's interest rate risk resulting from prepayments.
B)
The risk associated with the unknown amount and timing of cash flow's resulting from prepayments.
C)
The lender's spread risk resulting from prepayments.



Mortgage prepayments reduce the amount of interest the lender receives over the life of the loan. The likelihood of this situation actually occurring is very real and is known as prepayment risk.

TOP

Payments in excess of the required monthly payment amount are called:

A)

mega-payments.

B)

prepayments.

C)

passthroughs.




Payments in excess of the required monthly payment amount are called prepayments.

TOP

Prepayments cause the timing and amount of cash flows from mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to be uncertain. Thus:

A)
the analyst must make specific assumptions about the rate at which prepayments of the pooled mortgages occurs when valuing the passthrough securities.
B)
the rate of prepayments is important to valuing the passthrough securities but is impossible to estimate.
C)
regulators mandate the convention firms must use when estimating prepayment rates.



The analyst must make specific assumptions about the rate at which prepayments of the pooled mortgages occur when valuing the passthrough securities.

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