Fitch Affirms EFS Volunteer No. 2, Series 2012-1; Outlook Stable

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings affirms the EFS Volunteer No. 2, LLC, Series 2012-1 senior notes at 'AAAsf' and the subordinate notes at 'AAsf'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable for both classes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral is comprised 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. Fitch rates the U.S. sovereign government 'AAA' with a Stable Outlook.

Sufficient Credit Enhancement (CE): CE is provided by overcollateralization (OC; the excess of trust's asset balance over bond balance) and excess spread, and for the senior notes, subordination of the class B note. As of February 2015, total parity is 103.33% (3.22% CE) and senior parity is 106.44% (6.05% CE). The trust is in turbo and cannot release excess cash until all notes are paid in full.

Adequate Liquidity Support: Liquidity support is provided by a reserve account and capitalized interest account. The reserve is equal to the greater of 0.25% of the pool balance and $1,046,734, currently sized at $1,193,577.67 as of February 2015. The capitalized interest account is sized at $10,500,639.61, and is scheduled to release to the trust in May 2015.

Acceptable Servicing Capabilities: PHEAA is responsible for the day to day servicing of the trust. Fitch believes PHEAA to be acceptable servicers of FFELP student loans.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Since the FFELP student loan ABS 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 CE driven by positive excess spread given favorable basis factor conditions could lead to future upgrades.

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:

EFS Volunteer No.2, LLC, Series 2012-1:

--Class A-1 at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class A-2 at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class B-1 at 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria,' dated March 31, 2015;

--'Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria' (June 23, 2014);

--'EFS Volunteer No.2, LLC - Appendix', dated July 31, 2012;

--'Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions' (March 26, 2015).

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=864268

Rating U.S. Federal Family Education Loan Program Student Loan ABS Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=750530

EFS Volunteer No. 2, LLC -- Appendix

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685462

Representations, Warranties and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=863817

Additional Disclosure

Solicitation Status

http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=982825

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 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.

Fitch Ratings
Primary Analyst
Eric Orenstein
Associate Analyst
+1-212-908-0245
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
33 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
or
Committee Chairperson
Tracy Wan
Senior Director
+1-212-908-9171
or
Media Relations:
Sandro Scenga, +1-212-908-0278
[email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings

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