LONDON (MarketWatch) -- UBS may have sold off a portfolio of Alt-A securities worth around 25 billion Swiss francs ($24.1 billion), according to an analyst at J.P. Morgan.
UBS 30.83, +0.03, +0.1%) (CH:002489948: news, chart, profile) was "highly likely" to have sold the securities in a fire sale, said J.P. Morgan analyst Kian Abouhossein, noting press speculation on the subject."We see the speculated level of 70 cents on the dollar as realistic in a fire sale," he said in a Thursday note to clients, adding the current market price is probably 84 cents on the dollar. His note came amid published reports that UBS sold its entire portfolio to Pimco, the bond-house giant owned by German insurer
A separate note from Huw Van Steenis of Morgan Stanley estimated that UBS may record mark-to-market losses of nearly 5 billion francs this quarter, if the reports are true.
Neither firm has commented on the reports.Alt-A mortgages are home loans sold to borrowers with better credit than those who take out subprime mortgages, and they often require less information.Delinquencies and foreclosures on Alt-A mortgages haven't climbed as high as subprime loans, but they have deteriorated faster than many expected. Read related story.Securities backed by Alt-A loans also built in less protection for investors than similar structures holding subprime mortgages. That's made the deterioration in Alt-A securities almost as painful as the subprime meltdown.The massive Alt-A holdings at UBS, disclosed on Valentine's Day, have hit other firms, notably ensnaring Thornburg Mortgage Asset Corp. (TMA: As for UBS, its shares dropped 2.6% in Zurich trading, more than offsetting gains made on Wednesday, when the fire-sale speculation first emerged. The Swiss-traded shares hit a 52-week low on Tuesday.J.P. Morgan's Abouhossein revised higher his estimate for 2008 credit-crisis write-downs for UBS, increasing it to 18.5 billion francs from 15 billion francs.But he also kept an overweight rating on the Swiss bank, citing "undiscounted value" in its wealth-management division. More global coverage
Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.