Asia Buys 20.2% of Fannie's Benchmark Notes

Distribution data show U.S. investors bought 65.8% of Fannie Mae's $4 billion two-year Benchmark Notes new issue on Friday, followed by Asian investors who bought 20.2%. European investors bought just 1.2%. The balance of investors hailed from other miscellaneous geographic regions. Fund managers bought 59.4%, central banks bought 33.1%, state/local governments bought 4.4%, insurance companies bought 2.5%, foundations/nonprofits bought 0.3%, commercial banks bought 0.2% and retail investors bought 0.1%. The new issue due April 4, 2012 (CUSIP 31398AH54) was priced at 99.959 to yield 1.020% at a spread of 20 basis points above the 0.875% Treasury due Feb. 29, 2012. The Benchmark Notes' payment dates are each April 4 and Oct. 4, starting this year. Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and Morgan Stanley & Co. are the joint lead managers. The co-managers include Blaylock Robert Van LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., FTN Financial Capital Markets, Jefferies & Company Inc. and UBS Securities LLC.