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Fitch Affirms Nelnet Education Loan Funding 2004-2; Outlook Remains StableNEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- Fitch Ratings affirms the senior notes at 'AAAsf' and subordinate notes at 'AA+sf' issued by Nelnet Education Loan Funding 2004-2. The Rating Outlook remains Stable on all of the notes. KEY RATING DRIVERS High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral consists of 100% of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans. The credit quality of the trust collateral is high, in Fitch's opinion, based on the guarantees provided by the transaction's eligible guarantors and reinsurance provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for at least 97% of principal and accrued interest. On March 24, 2014, Fitch affirmed the U.S. sovereign rating at 'AAA' and assigned a Stable Outlook. Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit Enhancement is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance), excess spread, and for the class A notes, subordination provided by the class B notes. As of February 2014, senior and total parity are 108.25% and 103.43% respectively. The trust may release excess funds as long as parity remains above 100.5%. Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account, currently funded to its floor of $1,495,126. Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: As the servicer, Nelnet Inc. is responsible for the day-to-day servicing of this trust. In Fitch's opinion, Nelnet is an acceptable servicer of FFELP student loans. RATING SENSITIVITIES Since the FFELP student loan ABS (News - Alert) relies on the U.S. government to reimburse defaults, 'AAAsf' FFELP ABS ratings will likely move in tandem with the 'AAA' U.S. sovereign rating. Aside from the U.S. sovereign rating, defaults and basis risk account for the majority of the risk embedded in FFELP student loan transactions. Additional defaults and basis shock beyond Fitch's published stresses could result in future downgrades. Likewise, a buildup of credit enhancement driven by positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades. Fitch has affirmed the following ratigs: Nelnet Education Loan Funding 2004-2: --Class A-4 at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable; --Class A-5A at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable; --Class A-5B at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable; --Class A-5C at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable; --Class B-1 at 'AA+sf'; Outlook Stable. --Class B-2 at 'AA+sf'; Outlook Stable. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Applicable Criteria and Related Research: --'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (May 24, 2013); --'Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria' (May 17, 2013). Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=708661 Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria -- Amended http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=708795 Additional Disclosure Solicitation Status http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=826516 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. |
