League tables for US and Latin American asset-backed securities (ABS) in 2004 show it at the top with proceeds of $102bn, although the number of issues in which it was involved falls short of the second contender, Lehman Brothers. The judges were particularly impressed with Citigroup ’s concentration on third party business and it is the dominant house in terms of repeat issuers. Primary distribution and secondary trading are top notch.
The quality of Citigroup’s market research cannot be ignored. Its asset-backed research team is pre-eminent. Its trophies are its 2005 Guide to prospering in the ABS market and its bond market round-ups – both essential reading for players in the field. It develops theoretical financial models that illustrate how ABSs behave in different market environments.
Citigroup’s research team covers topics including strategy and relative value of ABS, prepayments on RFC high LTV loans, prepayments on RFC fixed rate sub-prime home equity loans and sub-prime mortgage performance.
Jeff Perlowitz and Mark Tsesarsky, co-heads of global securitised markets at Citigroup, say: “We have been involved in some of the region’s most innovative securitisations, such as Carat-GMAC, Spirit Financial and Triad Financial within the ABS market. Our strength in delivering for our clients is the result of a franchise that is committed to delivering consistency, market vision and exceptional capabilities in both primary distribution and secondary trading, as well as first-class market research.”
