Shocker: No One Wants to Buy Student Loan-backed Securities

◼ Worried by reports of rising defaults, investors turned up their noses at a new $225 million bond issue by Sallie Mae, the federal agency that packages individual student loans into large securities. The loan company canceled the offering after two weeks on the market. - The American Interest

◼ Investors Say No to Sallie Mae Bond Deal - Wall St. Journal

Securities backed by student loans have become popular for the extra yield they provide over safer debt, despite a significant rise in defaults on such loans. Overall, the portion of student borrowers who are late on their debt payments by 90 days or more climbed to 31% in 2012, from 24% in 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a recent report.

In the case of the canceled Sallie Mae offering, rising defaults could have crimped the cash flow of the federally backed loans supporting the new securities, because more defaults would mean less excess, or residual, income after holders of the original loans were paid.