Orange County Register

Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. was picked by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to help assess companies’ portfolios of residential mortgage-backed securities, reports Bloomberg. Here’s more:

Pimco will help evaluate about 18,000 RMBS owned by U.S. insurers, the NAIC said in a statement today. The evaluations will help regulators determine how much capital insurers need to guard against losses on slumping home-loan investments.

Regulators are seeking assistance in valuing investments after the housing slump pushed up mortgage defaults. State insurance commissioners, which monitor portfolios to make sure carriers have enough money to pay claims, discontinued their use of RMBS credit grades issued by ratings firms including Moody’s Investors Service after downgrades caused a fivefold increase in capital requirements this year.

Pimco, a unit of Munich-based Allianz SE, was selected from a short list of 11 vendors that were considered by the NAIC, the regulator group said. Mark Porterfield, a spokesman for Pimco, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

In related news, Calpers trims Pimco bond investments.

More from this blog…

• Banks start foreclosure on 2,100 mortgages
• A failed prosecution
• Fed to continue supporting mortgage market
• More foreclosures and short sales hit the market
• Investors up bets on foreclosures
• Feds seize San Clemente bank that got taxpayer money
• FHA short on cash
• Reader considers buying retirement home early
• These homes are about to be foreclosed

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