Synthetic CDOs, Ratings, And Super Senior Tranches: Part 2

Bait And Switch

My apologies, but this is going to be a three part article.  I have come to the conclusion that each topic warrants separate treatment. In this article, I will discuss the rating of CDO tranches. In the next, I will discuss the rating of Synthetic CDOs and those illusive “Super Senior” tranches.

Portfolio Loss Versus Tranche Loss

In the previous article, we discussed how rating agencies model the expected losses on the portfolio of bonds underlying a CDO. The end result was a chart that plotted losses against a scale of probabilities. This chart purports to answer the question, “how likely is it that the portfolio will lose more than X?” So if our CDO has a single tranche, that is if the payment waterfall simply passes the cash flows onto investors, then this chart would presumably contain all the information we need about the default risks associated with the CDO. But payment waterfalls can be used to distribute default risk differently among different tranches. So, if our CDO has multiple tranches, then we need to know the payment priorities of each tranche before we can make any statements about the expected losses of any tranche. After we know the payment priorities, we will return to our chart and rate the tranches.

Subordination And Default Risk

Payment waterfalls can be used to distribute default risk among different tranches by imposing payment priorities on cash flows. But in the absence of payment priorities, cash flows are shared equally among investors. For example, if each of 10 investors had equal claims on an investment that generated $500, each investor would receive $50. Assuming each made the same initial investment, each would have equal gains/losses. However, by subordinating the rights of certain investors to others, we can insulate the senior investors. For example, continuing with our 10 investors, assume there are 2 tranches, A and B, where the A notes are paid only the first $500 generated by the investment and the B notes are paid the remainder. Assume that 5 investors hold A notes and that 5 investors hold B notes. If the investment generates only $500, the A investors will receive $100 each while the B investors will receive nothing. If however the investment generates $1,500 the A investors will receive $100 each and the B investors will receive $200 each. This is just one example. In reality, the payment waterfall can assign cash flows under any set of rules that the investors will agree to.

If the investment in the previous example is a portfolio of bonds with an expected total return of $1,000, then the payment waterfall insulates the A investors against the first $500 of loss. That is, even if the portfolio loses $500, the A investors will be fully paid. So, the net effect of the payment waterfall is to shift a fixed amount of default risk to the B investors.

Rating CDO Tranches

As a general rule, rating agencies define their various gradations of quality according to the probability of full payment of principal and interest as promised under the bonds. Assume that Joe’s Rating Agency defines their rating system as follows:

AAA rated bonds have at least a 99% probability of full payment of principal and interest;

AA rated bonds have at least a 95% probability of full payment of principal and interest;

A rated bonds have at least a 90% probability of full payment of principal and interest; and

Any bonds with less than a 90% probability of principal and interest are “Sub Investment Grade (SIG).”

Assume that the bonds underlying our CDO collectively promise to pay a total of $100 million in principal and interest over the life of the bonds. For simplicity’s sake, assume that the CDO investors will receive only one payment at maturity. Further, assume that we have conducted several hundred thousand simulations for our CDO and constructed the chart below:

It follows from the data in the chart that the probability that losses on the CDO will be less than or equal to: $35 million is 90%; $40 million is 95%; $65 million is 99%. We define the tranches as follows: tranche A is paid the lesser of (i) $35 million and (ii) the total return on the CDO pool (the green tranche);  tranche B is paid the lesser of (i) $25 million and (ii) the total return on the CDO pool less any amounts paid to tranche A (the yellow tranche); tranche C is paid the lesser of (i) $5 million and (ii) the total return on the CDO pool less any amounts paid to tranches A and B (the blue tranche); and tranche D is paid the lesser of (i) $35 million and (ii) the total return on the CDO pool less any amounts paid to tranches A, B, and C (the red tranche).

After some thought, you should realize that, according to Joe’s Ratings, tranche A is AAA; tranche B is AA; tranche C is A; and tranche D is SIG.