By the Numbers

Allocating Ginnie Mae exposure between MBS and CMBS

Mary Beth Fisher, PhD | January 6, 2023

This document is intended for institutional investors and is not subject to all of the independence and disclosure standards applicable to debt research reports prepared for retail investors.

Investors looking for Ginnie Mae exposure can choose between residential mortgages packaged in TBA pass-throughs or collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) or can choose commercial multifamily mortgages in Ginnie Mae project loan deals (GNPL). The deep liquidity of the residential TBA pass-throughs comes with significant negative convexity due to the prepayment risk. GNPL front sequentials also have prepayment risk, but that risk is tempered somewhat by lockout provisions, prepayment penalties and some buffering by the deal structure, which is particularly effective in the early years of the deal. Ginnie investors who went overweight single-family and underweight multifamily in 2022 should revisit that allocation in 2023, as project loan rates and deal spreads have finally caught up to the sell-off.

Throughout the latter half of 2022, Ginnie Mae project loan commitment rates lagged both rising Treasury rates and Ginnie Mae single-family current coupon rates (Exhibit 1). The lag between the closing of multifamily loans and deal issuance also meant that most dealspriced at a deep discount as rates rose through 2022. Ginnie Mae investors who wanted par coupon or higher coupon pass-throughs or sequentials often migrated to the residential mortgage market. Project loan commitment rates finally spiked higher late in the fourth quarter, and many new deals coming to market will be issued close to par or even at a premium, with weighted average coupons between 4.5% and 5.0%.

Exhibit 1: Ginnie Mae project loan versus single-family mortgage rates

Note: Project loan data through December 2022. Data revised as new deals enter the market.
Source: Ginnie Mae, Bloomberg, Amherst Pierpont

Deals printed in November still had gross weighted average coupons that barely hit 4.00%, with coupons on the front sequential A classes typically in the high 2.0%s to low 3.0%s (Exhibit 2). The par coupon Ginnie Mae TBA is currently about 5.00%, with the G2SF 5.0 priced at a slight premium. Some investors, particularly banks, tend to have accounting rules that make buying bonds at a significant premium or discount cumbersome, something that contributed last year to the migration to TBAs. Even when the yields are similar, the optics of a 3.25% GNPL coupon instead of a 5.00% TBA coupon when short term rates are 4.50% can be demoralizing for a portfolio manager.

Exhibit 2: Baseline comparison of recent GNPL deal and single-family TBA

Note: The static project loan analysis is done at 15 CPJ, or 15 CPR and 100 PLD, where 100 PLD is the standard project loan default (PLD) curve. Duration is the modified duration of the Ginnie Mae project loan at 15 CPJ, and the OAS effective duration of the TBA. Convexity is the OAS effective convexity. Data as of 1/6/2023.
Source: Bloomberg, Amherst Pierpont

That problem with static scenario analysis is that it’s, well, static. The projected performance of the GNPL front sequential compared to the G2SF 5.0 is shown in Exhibit 3 for various changes in CPR. Ginnie Mae project loans have been prepaying between 4 CPR and 9 CPR for the last six months, and the G2SF 5.0 TBA has a 3-month CPR of 8. The modified duration of the multifamily front sequential and the TBA shown is both around 5.5 to 6.0 at current speeds, with an average life of about six years.

Exhibit 3: Projected yield comparison

Note: Comparison shows the modified duration for both bonds, which is closer to the weighted average life of the mortgage for the TBA than the effective duration shown in Exhibit 2. The N-spread for both bonds is the static spread to the LIBOR swaps curve. Scenario analysis from Bloomberg as of 1/6/2022. Constant CPR.
Source: Bloomberg, Amherst Pierpont

At roughly current speeds, the projected yields of the two bonds are close to equal, as the yield graphs cross just above 7 CPR. The impact of the change in CPR is apparent in the graphs of projected yield and spread for the two securities (Exhibit 4). The low coupon of the GNR 2022-217 A is causing the deep discount in price, which reverses to substantial outperformance in scenarios where prepayment speeds increase. Obviously the reverse is true if speeds continue to slow, and the TBA outperforms.

Exhibit 4: Faster speeds favor the GNPL because it’s at a deeper discount

Note: Scenario analysis from Bloomberg as of 1/6/2022. Constant CPR.
Source: Bloomberg, Amherst Pierpont

In a rising rate environment as speeds were decelerating and GNPL deals were consistently coming to market at discounts, it’s not surprising that investors chose to overweight Ginnie MBS as opposed to CMBS.

The good news for GNPL deals is that higher coupons are coming, and with that transition some closer to par priced or even premium deals are likely to print in the coming months. That should help collapse some of the performance difference between the two types of securities due to prepays, though the general trend for most front sequentials will still be to outperform TBAs as speeds increase, and vice versa as speeds slow.

Mary Beth Fisher, PhD
marybeth.fisher@santander.us
1 (646) 776-7872

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