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1 week ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
The long weekend in the UK comes at a welcome moment for the GlobalCapital Securitization team, after frenetic run in to Easter, with deals delayed, regulatory shocks and even new asset classes emerging. In his book The Misbehaviour of Markets, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot describes the concept of trading time. Everyone in capital markets will intuitively grasp the idea. Time flies during high volatility. Weeks worth of market movements happen in mere hours.
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1 week ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith
It often seems like significant risk transfer can't catch a break. This low profile but important part of the securitization market is where banks offload multi-billion euro portfolios of loan risk to investors, usually through synthetic securitization, carving the risk into tranches. Supporters believe SRT performs a useful function, helping banks clean out their risk portfolios, making space for fresh loans that support economic activity.
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2 weeks ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
You can see why risk retention is an intuitively appealing idea. If you think of securitization as banks selling loans to investors who are blindly buying based on a credit rating, then one thing you can do is at least make the banks keep some "skin in the game". Obviously, that’s not how it works. But in the case of banks securitizing their own loan books, at least, it’s easy enough to see why you might like the idea of risk retention.
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4 weeks ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
It was the first of two hectic weeks for GlobalCapital’s European securitization dynamic duo George Smith and Tom Hall. However, the UK securitization GC Live briefing, two Invisso conferences in two days, and our London Awards shindig were not going to stop them sitting down for their weekly chinwag about the happenings in the market.
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1 month ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
Another Fine Mezz returned to its traditional line-up this week, with senior securitization reporter George Smith hosting fellow ABS journalist Tom Hall. Recent deal making activity in European securitization has come in falvaours as varied as the continent's different cuisines. Tom hasn't even been at GlobalCapital for three months, yet CMBS is already is favourite subject — at least if you believe George. Who can blame him?
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1 month ago | 
advisoranalyst.com | George Smith |LPL Research
LPL Research discusses the distinct nature of investment horizons and examines when and why strategic and tactical perspectives may diverge. by George Smith, Portfolio Strategist, LPL ResearchHeightened volatility and uncertainty in both financial markets and the broader economy present challenges and opportunities for investors.
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1 month ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith
Deals from Virgin Money and Paragon Bank last week laid bare the absurdity of the uneven playing field between RMBS and mortgage-backed covered bonds. Virgin’s RMBS is backed by prime owner-occupied mortgages and carried the ‘Simple, Transparent and Standardised’ securitization hallmark. It came from Virgin’s Lanark Master Trust, which has over £2bn of outstanding paper, with issuance dating back to 2007.
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1 month ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
It can be difficult to know what to make of all the recent debuts in European securitization. Indeed, George Smith argued a few weeks ago that the slew of recent and prospective inaugural first-time issuers doesn’t mean the market is functioning perfectly — or that regulatory reform can be forgotten. Overall, though, it’s certainly something to feel positive about. And Tom Hall struck a more upbeat note in this recent story, highlighting the rise in UK specialist lenders.
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1 month ago | 
globalcapital.com | George Smith |Tom Hall
Amid a busy week for regulatory developments, deal activity and some hiring, there have been a few landmark moments for European securitization issuers. First, long standing Obvion, owned by Rabobank, returned to the market this week with its 50th deal — a storming achievement. After a humbler five deals, Enra priced its first first-lien only deal at a remarkably tight 72bp over Sonia (with George Smith successfully pitching the deal for GlobalCapital cartoon).
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2 months ago | 
advisoranalyst.com | George Smith |LPL Research
by George Smith, Portfolio Strategist, LPL ResearchAs we move deeper into 2025, LPL Research's Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation Committee (STAAC) has updated its Capital Market Assumptions (CMA) and Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) to provide guidance on long-term asset allocation and strategic market views over the next three to five years. A Time to Reduce RiskLPL Research is reducing risk in their portfolios with long-term investment horizons.
