Executive Summary
Most lenders still navigate an MBS pool bidding process filled with disconnected, manual steps that slow execution and increase the likelihood of mistakes. This piece explores how modern workflow automation and real-time intelligence can eliminate those friction points. Agile’s new pooling capabilities consolidate tasks, improve communication, and strengthen best execution outcomes by giving lenders an integrated, end-to-end bidding framework.
Traditional pool bidding often arrives through email, phone, and chat. That fragmentation introduces unnecessary risk, creates tracking blind spots, and forces teams to rely on manual copy and paste activities that can easily lead to errors. Monitoring axes, tracking price changes, and passing messages between lenders and dealers add further complexity. Without a central system, it becomes difficult to maintain a clean audit trail or respond effectively to fast-moving market conditions.
Agile’s MBS pool bidding functionality replaces these legacy pain points with a unified, intelligent process. It is designed for lenders who actively trade on-the-run pools or manage Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae positions. It provides visibility, automation, and control across the entire life cycle of a pool bid.
A high-performing bidding process must be integrated and predictable. Agile’s approach organizes the workflow into four clear stages: Setup, Monitor, Award, and Finish
In the Setup stage, users distribute their list of pools and establish the competitive landscape. The Monitor stage then captures and organizes bid activity in real time. When the lender is ready to strike one or several pools, the process moves to the Award stage. The Finish stage completes the cycle by managing AOT processing for any on-swap trades and sending color and cover back to dealers. Each step has been simplified to minimize clicks and reduce operational drag.
Streamlined Pooling Workflow in Agile
Best execution depends on clean, accurate bid comparison. The platform offers several ways to view and interpret incoming bids.
The Spreadsheet View aligns each dealer’s bids in column format. This layout also simplifies comparing spread bids with cash bids because the user can establish a current market level and view both types of pricing against that benchmark.
The Dealer Summary View organizes bids by dealer rather than by pool. This is particularly useful when assessing color because it shows where each dealer sits across a group of pools. It helps determine whether to request an improvement or to move interest to a different counterparty.
The Pool Summary and Dealer Summary views can be used together to provide both a detailed and a holistic perspective on the competition.
Agile’s new color functionality allows lenders to reengage with dealers once bids have been reviewed. During the Monitor stage, selecting the Provide Color option reveals dealer positioning as bids arrive or once bidding is complete. The platform also displays each dealer’s Axed status, which can help decide who deserves a last look or which dealer should receive a targeted follow-up.
For example, if two dealers are tied and one shows an Axed interest, it becomes simple to direct the next inquiry to the dealer who is most motivated. Lenders can request a best-and-final bid or communicate a preferred price level. Color can be sent on multiple pools and to multiple dealers at once, which increases execution efficiency and creates stronger engagement throughout the auction cycle.
Are you looking for areas to save on loan pipeline hedge costs? Agile’s whitepaper, How (and How Much) Agile Helps Mortgage Originators Save on Hedging Costs, discusses several ways that mortgage bankers may pick up basis points in gain on sale*, all while saving time and reducing errors.
Agile’s enhanced MBS pool bidding workflow resolves the long-standing challenges of manual, fragmented processes. A structured four-step lifecycle, intuitive analysis tools, and built-in communication features give lenders greater accuracy, speed, and control. With all communication and reporting centralized, lenders can improve execution, deepen dealer relationships, and minimize operational risk.
Agile provides mortgage bankers with a platform to solicit multiple TBA quotes quickly and consistently. By removing manual processes and human error, lenders can improve execution quality and reduce operational risk. To get started, visit trade-agile.com/contact-us/
Agile brings lenders and dealers together on a single electronic platform that modernizes the exchange of TBA MBS. It secures and automates communication between mortgage lenders and broker dealers, moving the process from phones and spreadsheets into a controlled digital environment. Lenders gain access to national and regional dealers who were previously unavailable through traditional digital tools. Dealers gain access to a broad and expanding lender network. Agile Trading Technologies is based in Philadelphia and is supported by a team of capital markets professionals with deep trading experience across the industry.
To learn more, visit trade-agile.com or call 619.332.6205.
Agile is not available for retail natural person investors.
Sam Farmer serves as a Product Manager at Agile, where he drives the vision and execution of key trading workflows across the platform. He brings a strong foundation in capital markets, data analysis, and trading strategy, shaped by prior roles at MCT supporting lenders and broker dealers in complex market environments. His experience blends product leadership with deep market expertise, allowing him to design intuitive, high-impact solutions that improve execution quality, strengthen client performance, and modernize the mortgage trading ecosystem.
