CDOs/CLOs

Ocean Land Investments, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based developer, has recruited United Capital Markets to underwrite and arrange a construction loan, possibly as much as $5 billion, to redevelop a 43-acre parcel of oceanfront land in Florida.

Conservative ABCP investor Mason Street Advisor, which prefers multiseller programs with the occasional auto loan ABS-backed single-seller programs, is stepping up its participation in those programs.

Mick Brown, an asset-backed commercial paper analyst whose affable demeanor impressed the industry as much as his grasp of the market he covered, died on Friday, Jan. 5. He was 46. The cause was complications from pneumonia.

The Liberty Hampshire Co. is preparing to launch the Valcour Bay Capital Co., an asset-backed commercial paper vehicle that can issue U.S. dollar-denominated CP, callable notes, and extendible notes to buy trade receivables and other financial assets.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Wirefree Partners III, LLC PCS Spectrum Lease-Backed Notes, 2005-1 to BBB', from BBB+', after taking a similar action on the unsecured corporate rating of Sprint Nextel and its subsidiaries.

The ABX.HE plummeted last week to all-time lows amid unrelenting news of issuers pulling out of the subprime mortgage market and the sour performance of loans originated in 2006. The activity - most dramatic in the triple-B tranches of the index's second series - comes on the heels of this week's emergence of the third ABX.HE series.

For a brief moment, January threatened to turn into a lollygagging month for ABS issuance, shortened by two holiday workweeks and the pending American Securitization Forum conference in Las Vegas. Then the AmeriCredit Corp.'s $1.2 billion transaction, secured by auto loans, came roaring across trading desks.

Attractive returns have always been a selling point for plan sponsors, having led many to seek solace in fixed-income. Samuel Austin, senior portfolio advisor with Seneca Capital Management contends that continues to be the case, with one slight amendment. Pension funds are now eyeing "alternative" fixed-income opportunities CLOs and CDOs.

The importance of credit risk management has certainly ballooned over the past few years, with increasing competition for yield. With that in mind, the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers (IACPM) is heading into 2007 with a new board of directors and an agenda that includes standard form contracts on credit default swaps (CDS), as well as discussion of the implications of converging credit desks, the use of insider information and the increasing amounts of leverage in the market.

In the specialized business of ABS, Citigroup Global Markets attained its top ranking as lead manager of all public and 144a transactions in 2006 by being well rounded. The investment bank arranged about $120.7 billion in ABS deals, giving it a 9.9% share of the term ABS market and putting it well ahead of second-place finisher Merrill Lynch, which cleared $98.7 billion in deals. Overall U.S. ABS issuance totaled $1.2 trillion in 2006, up slightly from $1.1 trillion in 2005, according to Thomson Financial figures.