Home Truths

Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) seem to be the flavour of the season. First, it was the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), and now ICICI Bank is raising funds in the market by securitising some of its home loan receivables. The timing is perfect: cash-rich banks are especially interested and mutual funds and insurance companies are looking at investment in good quality portfolios and locking their funds in attractive yields for a period of 5 to 10 years.

The interest rate payable for HDFC