Who Is Lewis Ranieri?

Lewis Ranieri is a powerful American financier who is best known for his pioneering work in the field of mortgage-backed securities. He is also a major philanthropist and political donor. Ranieri was born in New York City in 1947 and graduated from Harvard University in 1969. He began his career as a trainee at the investment bank Salomon Brothers, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become a partner. In the early 1980s, Ranieri played a key role in developing the market for mortgage-backed securities, which revolutionized the way home loans are funded and securitized. He left Salomon Brothers in 1988 to set up his own hedge fund, Ranieri Partners, which was highly successful. After the financial crisis of 2008, Ranieri retired from active investing and has since focused on philanthropy. He is a major donor to the Ranieri Foundation, which supports educational causes, and also serves on the board of directors of several charities.

What happens to MBS when interest rates rise?

Assuming you are referring to mortgage-backed securities (MBS), when interest rates rise, the prices of MBS fall. This is because MBS are essentially bonds, and when interest rates rise, bond prices fall. The reason for this is that when interest rates rise, new bonds are issued at higher rates, so the old bonds become less valuable. MBS are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates because they have longer maturities than most other bonds.

When was mortgage-backed security invented? Mortgage-backed securities were invented in the 1970s in order to provide a new source of financing for home loans. Prior to this time, the primary source of financing for home loans was through the sale of whole loans to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. However, with the advent of mortgage-backed securities, home loans could now be securitized and sold to investors in the form of bonds. This allowed for a much wider pool of capital to be available for home lending, and helped to fuel the growth of the housing market in the United States.

Is a mortgage a bond?

A mortgage is not a bond. A bond is a debt security in which the issuer—usually a corporation, government, or municipality—guarantees to pay the bondholder a specified rate of interest over a specified period of time, and to repay the principal (the face value of the bond) when the bond matures. A mortgage is a loan that is secured by real property.

Are CMOs backed by the government?

There is no simple answer to this question, as the answer depends on the specific country and government in question. However, in general, Central banks (CMOs) are institutions that are set up by governments and typically have some degree of government backing. This backing can take various forms, such as financial support, regulatory authority, or legal immunity.

Who invented collateralized mortgage obligations?

Collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) were invented in the early 1980s by a group of Wall Street bankers and lawyers. The group included Merrill Lynch CEO Don Regan, Salomon Brothers CEO John Gutfreund, and lawyer Lewis Ranieri.

CMOs were created in response to a problem that arose from the growing popularity of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). ARMs were attractive to borrowers because they offered lower interest rates than fixed-rate mortgages. However, when interest rates rose, borrowers were often unable to make their monthly payments, and lenders were left with a number of bad loans on their hands.

CMOs were designed to protect lenders from this risk by creating a pool of loans and then dividing that pool into tranches, or slices. Each tranche had a different level of risk, with the higher-risk tranches paying higher interest rates. This way, if some loans in the pool defaulted, the losses would be borne by the holders of the higher-risk tranches.

CMOs were first used in the early 1980s, and they quickly became popular. By the end of the decade, they were being used in more than half of all mortgage-backed securities.