Michael Canter, PhD
18 Years at AB|31 Years of Experience
Michael Canter is a Senior Vice President and Director of Securitized Assets at AB, heading the portfolio-management and research teams for these strategies. In addition, he is a portfolio manager for multi-sector fixed-income portfolios. Canter’s focus includes his role as the Chief Investment Officer of AB’s Securitized Assets Fund. His team is responsible for AB’s investments in agency mortgage-backed securities, credit risk–transfer securities, non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations and other asset-backed securities. Canter has particularly extensive expertise in residential mortgages. In 2009, AB was selected by the US Department of the Treasury to manage one of nine Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program funds; he was the CIO of that AB-managed fund. In addition, Canter was called upon to give expert testimony to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in 2013 and the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance in 2017 on how US housing policy should be structured going forward. Prior to joining AB in 2007, he was the president of ACE Principal Finance, a division of ACE Limited (now Chubb). There, Canter managed portfolios of credit default swaps, asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. He holds a BA in math and economics from Northwestern University and a PhD in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Location: New York
Published Work
With interest rates on the rise, the US housing market is finally cooling. So why are prices still so high?
The US housing market is sizzling. Tight supply and record demand met low rates, resulting in quick sales at record prices. What’s next for the US housing market?
Credit risk-transfer securities have made the US mortgage market safer by shifting default risk from taxpayers to private investors. The latest attempt to overhaul the housing finance system isn't likely to change that.
The median price of a US single-family home has risen just over 40% since the last housing-market crash. While newspaper headlines may put readers on edge, our analysis indicates a gradual slowdown, not a bursting bubble—in most regions.
The US Congress is finally inching toward an overhaul of the US housing finance system. If they do it right, US mortgages should continue to be an appealing investment opportunity not only for US investors but also for Europeans.
Congress may finally be inching toward an overhaul of the US housing finance system. That's good. But getting reform right is more important than getting it done. To us, that means ensuring the government retains a clearly defined role in the mortgage market.
Investors seeking floating interest-rate exposure and high yields are increasingly turning to credit risk-transfer securities (CRTs), a fairly new type of mortgage-backed bond. But could US tax-code changes hurt the housing market and, by extension, CRTs? We don't think so.
For some investors, any mention of US mortgages takes them back to the dark days of 2008. But today's mortgage bonds aren't the devils some market participants make them out to be.
The US housing market is healthy, but some market participants worry it may be starting to heat up too much. We think that's a mistake-and an opportunity. That's because mortgages today have little in common with the risky loans made before the housing crisis.