Enhance Financial has shored up a financing strategy at its securitizing subsidiaries, as both C-Bass and Singer Asset Financial Company LLC. expect volumes to increase on upcoming deals.
C-Bass, a company that attempts to perform alchemy on nonperforming mortgages and reap the benefits by accessing the asset-backed market, had record earnings last quarter and expects to continue its steady uptick in securitization volumes going forward.
The company has securitized three times already this year, and expects a fourth offering in the fourth quarter to exceed the volume of its last deal. C-Bass last completed a $310 million deal in June. Underwriters have typically been Merrill Lynch & Co. and Greenwich Capital Markets in the past.
The collateral on most C-Bass deals contains a mix of Federal Housing Authority/Department of Veterans Affairs mortgage product, reperforming product, subprime collateral and home-equity debt. The company recently named a new management team, including Brian Kleinberg, who joined as chief executive officer, replacing Andy Spohn in January. Also named was Peter Saretsky, to the newly created position of chief financial officer.
Meanwhile, a setback has spurred Singer's ABS ramp-up in volume. Squelched by losses last quarter due mainly to lower securitizations of lottery assignments and the costs associated with its new viatical settlement venture, the company expects volume on deals to increase going forward.
"Lottery sales for the company have increased due to a newly placed management team," said Daniel Gross, CEO and president at Enhance Financial.
Singer will also bring new product sometime in the second half of 1999 - a likely suspect is the company's viatical settlement portfolio, though Gross nor other sources close to the company would elaborate.
Gross did say that the company was mulling coming out of the private, commercial paper world where it typically resides and perform a term, or even public lottery deal sometime in the foreseeable future.
