Vintage

A slang term used by mortgage-backed securities (MBS) traders and investors to refer to an MBS that is seasoned over some time period. MBSs typically have maturities around 30 years, and a particular issue's 'vintage' will expose the holder to less prepayment and default risk, although this decreased risk also limits price appreciation. 



|||The underlying loans of certain vintage MBSs have unique characteristics, such as burnout, that make the vintage trade at a premium price. These unique characteristics are a result of how underlying assets in MBS are pooled. Most MBSs pool the underlying assets across certain geographical regions with similar terms to maturity and interest rates. This makes forecasting payment plans more predictable.