Blackbox Logic added four new clients that will use its mortgage data research service, including a Fitch Group subsidiary and a fund manager linked to the investment advisory founded by controversial mortgage finance pioneer Lewis Ranieri. In January, Blackbox Logic launched its BBx Data service, which tracks individual loan data on more than 21 million jumbo, subprime and Alt-A mortgages in 7,200 non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) dating back to 1999. The clients will use the service for RMBS industry research and forecasting. “We’re proud to add trading and research leaders like these to our growing portfolio of BBx Data users,” said BlackBox Logic CEO Larry Barnett. “We look forward to supporting their success through the data quality, depth and responsiveness we provide.” The new clients include:
- Raymond James & Associates, a broker/dealer wholly owned by Raymond James Financial (RJF)
- Algorithmics’ Credit Advisory and Evaluations Group, a risk solutions subsidiary of the Fitch Group, owners of Fitch Ratings
- Six50 Capital Management, a fund manager and consultant affiliated with Ranieri Partners and Cooperstein Analytics. Lewis Ranieri, the namesake founder of Ranieri Partners, is widely regarded as one of the first to develop subprime mortgage securitization, earning him both accolades and criticism for his role in 21st century mortgage finance.
- Cognilytics, a provider of predictive analytics, enterprise data management and business intelligence solutions
At the same time that Blackbox Logic continues to develop its BBx Data service, the mortgage securitization market has slowly begun to emerge from its dead halt at the hands of the housing crisis. Investor demand for private label MBS is returning, as seen by the non-agency jumbo Redwood Trust RMBS — the first such deal since 2008. To serve the growing need for expert analytics in the RMBS market, in May, BlackBox hired former Braddock Financial RMBS trader Cory Lambert as a senior MBS analyst. Write to Austin Kilgore. The author held no relevant investments. In July, HousingWire will publish the latest edition of its HW Focus supplement series. The new edition covers the mortgage technology industry. In it, Blackbox’s Barnett writes that new developments in the way loan-level data is collected, cleansed and distributed are providing investors, brokers and researchers better tools to assess risk and gain clarity across the RMBS landscape, both at the macroeconomic and individual deal level. HW Focus comes complementary with a subscription of HousingWire magazine.
