Four takeaways from ABS East 2018

Last week’s ABS East annual conference, hosted by IMN in Miami, drew the largest crowd yet with over 5000 attendees. The Intertrust team is proud to share in the insights of the securitisation and ABS industry, a positive outlook for deal issuance and new and unique structures in the near future. Read on for four key takeaways from our attending team.

1. A strong economy with record consumer confidence and low unemployment has contributed to resurgence in the lending environment.

Global structured finance issuance has grown by approximately 23% year over year with over USD 444 billion in issuance for the first half of 2018 according to ABAlert rankings. A sense of confidence in the market was shared amongst attendees.

2. Not only resurgent, the US ABS industry is alive and well.

USD 1 trillion is in sight for the entire year as issuers ramp up issuance in the second half to meet increased demand. Enthusiasm over this projection was a theme in keynote speeches and industry panels.

3. US market participants are focusing less on regulation.

Both issuers and investors are unlocking value with structural creativity within the securitisation space. In our meetings, there was a feeling that regulatory burdens have been somewhat lifted, especially now that risk retention is but a distant memory in the US CLO space. “We believe the market will continue on this trajectory for the foreseeable future, thanks to increased investor demand and a lower threat of regulatory burden,” a market participant expressed to us.

4. Blockchain and crypto advancements (probably) won’t overturn industry dynamics.

There was plenty of blockchain and crypto talk, but the industry seems to have accepted that the existing securities settlement and clearing infrastructure will effectively just be “upgraded” with these new technologies. “Crypto will allow for far more efficiency and transparency in a transaction, with speed and reliability being key, but will probably not be a massive disruptor to the industry dynamics as previously envisioned,” an attendee noted. Of course, this remains to be seen.

Intertrust remains uniquely positioned to enable your participation in the rapid growth and change of the securitisation industry. To learn more about how we can help, please feel free to reach out to Richard Peterson, Commercial Director, Intertrust Americas, at 212-949-4029 or at [email protected]