Securitization is the process of pooling various types of debt -- mortgages, car loans, or credit card debt, for example -- and packaging that debt as bonds, pass-through securities, or collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), which are sold to investors.
The principal and interest on the debt underlying the security is paid to the investors on a regular basis, though the method varies based on the type of security. Debts backed by mortgages are known as mortgage-backed securities, while those backed by other types of loans are known as asset-backed securities.
Securitization enables the issuing institution to raise ready cash, thus improving its liquidity. Purchasers of such securities seek to profit by obtaining claims on assets at less than their redemption value, but they may choose to on-sell their claims in the market.
The process of taking many individual assets and combining them into a group,or pool,so that investors may buy interests in the pool rather than in the individual assets.The creation of collateralized mortgage backed securities is one example.The process increases the number of possible investors due to the ability to sell shares in the pool at relatively modest prices.In addition, because of the high degree of predictability inherent in large groups of things, the process of securitization increases predictability,lowers risk,and therefore increases value.
Example: On a single flip of a coin, how much would you bet that the coin would land heads up? On 20,000 flips of a coin, how much would you bet that it would land heads up fifty percent of the time, give or take two percent? This is a fundamental concept of securitization.