CDOs/CLOs

Gramercy Capital Corp., a newly formed specialty finance company, plans to use securitization as a source of funding, according to an S-11 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale of $200 million in common stock. Gramercy specifically names collateralized debt obligations as a possibility.

The U.S. ABS market continued at a modest pace last week, pricing roughly $9 billion in new-issue supply, focusing on either the mortgage-related or student loan sectors of the market. Aside from a pair of off-the run deals, there were no other asset classes represented throughout last week.

High yield loan specialist Ares Capital Management - an affiliate of Los Angeles-based investment manager Ares Management LLC - has formed a new entity to lend to the middle market and second lien secured loan market, as well as mezzanine and private equity. The new company, called Ares Capital Corp., plans to use securitization as a funding source for portfolio growth, although it is currently in the process of raising cash through a stock offering of $450 million via Merrill Lynch.

A standardized trustee report will soon be on the way to investors' mailrooms as The Bond Market Association released the final version of a template for monthly CDO trustee reports late last week.

Citibank's Hedged Mutual Fund Fee Trust priced its first offering for 2004 last week, and it was also the first 12b-1 fee-backed transaction of the year. The sector appears to be unaffected by the noxious headlines that have plagued the mutual fund industry during the past year.

Last week, Textron Inc. reported earnings as its subsidiary, Textron Financial Corp., which services, finances and manages receivables, had a senior note transaction circulating in the private placement market.

Year to date as of 04/22 Term (days) 04/16 04/19 04/20 04/21 04/22 1-week

2004 2003 2002 ABS (Public and 144A) 212,795 165,581 126,380 ABS (Public and 144A excluding CDOs) 189,798 156,963 114,447 ABS (Public Only) 171,255 138,252 103,771 ABS (144A Only) 41,540 27,328 22,610 Non-Agency MBS 68,265 84,704 54,887 Agency MBS 85,798 253,885 162,083 CMBS 20,018 19,280 12,843 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues Deutsche Bank AG 4,509.4 1 22.6 7 Citigroup 4,497.4 2 22.6 5 JP Morgan 3,660.1 3 18.4 5 Banc of America Securities LLC 1,263.5 4 6.3 2 Goldman Sachs & Co 1,256.2 5 6.3 1 Credit Suisse First Boston 1,242.7 6 6.2 3 Barclays Capital 977.7 7 4.9 2 Merrill Lynch & Co Inc 815.0 8 4.1 1 Banc One Capital Markets 675.0 9 3.4 2 Lehman Brothers 450.0 10 2.3 1 Industry Total 19,930.1 - 100.0 20 Source: Thomson Financial

Full Credit to Book (Equal if Joint) U.S. Public ABS Market/144A Market Managers Proceeds (mils) Rank Mkt. Share # of Issues Merrill Lynch & Co Inc 3,531.1 1 19.9 6 UBS 2,172.0 2 12.3 3 Deutsche Bank AG 1,968.7 3 11.1 5 Citigroup 1,345.7 4 7.6 7 RBS Greenwich Capital 1,005.8 5 5.7 3 Wachovia Corp 941.5 6 5.3 7 BNP Paribas SA 919.5 7 5.2 1 Goldman Sachs & Co 825.0 8 4.7 1 Banc of America Securities LLC 800.9 9 4.5 6 Bear Stearns & Co Inc 658.9 10 3.7 2 Industry Total 17,730.4 - 100.0 48 Source: Thomson Financial