The latest SFA Research Corner highlights how car manufacturers have been adding full-electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV) to their lineup to comply with global environmental regulations and to meet rising consumer demand. Pledges by major automakers to become fully electric as well as recent proposals from the Biden administration and lawmakers have the potential to meaningfully boost U.S. sales.

The latest SFA Research Corner looks at the challenges around climate-related disclosures addressed by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the House Committee on Financial Services over the past few weeks. How these challenges are resolved in the broader markets will ultimately influence on how the structured finance market addresses its own unique ESG-related reporting challenges, an effort led by SFA and its membership.

SFA’s latest Research Corner takes a look at the potential effect of President Biden’s proposed $10,000 federal student loan debt relief on our market. The impact on ABS backed by FFELP loans will depend on the scope of loan forgiveness.

The latest SFA Research Corner explains that the Biden administration will review a controversial Department of Labor rule that effectively dissuades employer-sponsored ERISA retirement plans, including 401(k) retirement plans, which hold an estimated $6.5 trillion in assets, from investing in ESG funds.

The latest SFA Research Corner takes a look at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Spending Survey. The survey reports that households expect their spending to grow by 3% in 2021, a sharp increase over the 2.2% reported August 2020 and the 2.4% in December 2019.

This week’s SFA Research Corner takes a look at recent Biden administration executive orders, including the extension of payment moratoriums on federally owned student loans for nine months. This coincided with the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s announcement to extend Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae’s moratoriums on single-family foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) evictions until February 28, 2021.

SFA’s latest Research Corner finds consumer sentiment down 19% from a 10-year high, year-over-year, as household net worth, on aggregate, has increased. Household’s financial health drives demand for credit to make purchases and, along with employment, impacts a borrower’s ability to repay debt.

A recent research piece by SFA’s Head of Research, Elen Callahan, takes a look at how the pandemic has affected the CLO market. A new GAO report found highest-rated senior tranches of CLOs remained “largely resilient” following the initial COVID-19 shock even as the leveraged loans deteriorated.

The Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices reports that more banks have tightened credit lending standards for residential, commercial and consumer loans and are also less willing to make consumer installment loans.

As COVID-19 continues to damper the US economy, some investors are concerned that the safety found in Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) are fleeting. The economic downturn had increased the risk of interest and principal payments being cut off for some of these investment-grade CLOs and the notes at risk have ratings as high as the A tier.