WASHINGTON - The Federal National Mortgage Association has added six minority- and women-owned firms to the selling group for its debt securities.
Four of the new members are owned by African-Americans, one by women, and one by Hispanics. On Jan. 3, they will join 10 other minority- and women-owned firms as selling group members under a Fannie Mae program announced in September 1992.
Fannie Mae says it designed the program to increase the participation of minority- and women-owned firms in the market for its debt and mortgage securities. Program members have so far sold some $16 billion of the company's debt - discount and other types of notes and debentures - and comanaged $5.65 billion in mortgage-backed securities and Remics.
The women-owned firm is Myerberg & Co., New York. The Hispanic firm is Coast Partner Securities Inc., San Francisco, while the four black firms are Berean Capital Inc., Chicago; Blaylock & Partners, New York; Ormes Capital Markets Inc., New York; and Robert Van Securities Inc., Oakland, Calif.
"With the addition of these firms, 28% of Fannie Mae's debt selling group will be composed of minority- and women-owned firms," said Linda K. Knight, Fannie Mae's senior vice president and treasurer.
Ms. Knight said that 1994 has been a very successful year for members of the group, with placements exceeding $10.8 billion in discount notes and other types of notes and debentures through October, compared with about $5.1 billion for ill of 1993.
In a separate announcement, Marcia Myerberg, chief executive of Myerberg & Co., said: "The reason we're in business today is because of Fannie Mae's program.
When the program was launched, I saw an ideal opportunity to form a women-owned investment banking form with solid, hands-on experience in agency debt and mortgage-backed securities."
Myerberg, less than a year old, is already involved in distributing Ginnie Mae and Freddie Mac Remic securities.
