Esoteric ABS: Riding the Growth Wave Into 2025
March 11, 2025
By Michael Nowakowski, Head of Structured Products
Demand for esoteric asset-backed securities (ABS) – securities backed by less traditional collateral such as music royalties, timeshare loans, and leases for aircraft and data center space – surged in 2024 and is expected to remain high in 2025.
In 2024, buyer interest in esoteric ABS far exceeded the record level of available supply. Fortunately for insurers, who have helped lead the charge to invest in these securities, supply conditions in the year ahead appear promising: the tighter spread environment and high demand for esoteric ABS are favorable for both programmatic and first-time issuers.
Insurers are drawn to the asset class for opportunities to enhance portfolio yield, achieve effective asset-liability matching, and diversify risk. Esoteric ABS has proven to be particularly attractive because it offers relative value and diversification compared to investment-grade corporate bonds, along with structural protections for investors during economic downturns.
Given the interest from insurers and favorable conditions for issuers, we expect the supply and demand for esoteric ABS to be strong in 2025.
ABS reached a post-Great Financial Crisis (GFC) record in supply with $338 billion in new issuance, and esoteric ABS made up more than 30% of the total (see Figure 1).
In addition, because of the record issuance and higher interest rate environment post-COVID, fewer deals are being called, helping drive up the outstanding amount to nearly $900 billion; the esoteric ABS share of that is higher as well, currently some 40% (also illustrated in Figure 1).
This larger supply should improve access to deals compared to 2023 and 2024, where the prevailing narrative was a lack of supply.
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