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Interest only (IO) and
principal only (PO)
CMO
bonds are obtained
by stripping the interest cash flows from the
principal cash flows of mortgage
collateral. The interest cash flows form one bond, which is the IO.
The principal cash flows form a second bond, which is the PO. This is
illustrated in Exhibit 1.
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With an IO and PO CMO structure, all
interest cash flows go to the IO. All principal cash flows go
to the PO. |
Prepayment risk tends to be extreme for IO's and PO's, with one
benefiting when the other suffers. This is because
Total payments to a PO are fixed—all that is uncertain
is the timing of those payments. Prepayments are desirable because the
holder of the PO receives the money earlier.
Total payments to an IO are not fixed. Prepayments are
undesirable because they reduce future interest payments. Because prepayments are sensitive to interest rates, the value of a PO
tends to rise (often dramatically) with declining interest rates. The
value of an IO responds in the opposite manner. POs tend to have very high
durations. IOs tend to have significantly negative durations.
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