Securitization has emerged on financial markets relatively recently: it was first introduced in the USA in 1970. However, since mid-1990s, securitization has been exhibiting continued growth, both on its native U.S. market, and on global markets.

There are multiple reasons for the growth. Undoubtedly, it was affected by changes on financial markets resulting from such trends as globalization, liberalization, and deregulation. Additionally, both the initiators of the process and investors have discovered the multiple benefits of securitization that enable them to pursue their own goals. The ability to reach capital markets while bypassing traditional agents is an obvious benefit of securitization. This is because securitization involves the transformation of non-marketable financial assets into negotiable securities that can be traded on capital markets.

The goal of the article is to gather and structure knowledge on the final product of securitization, i.e. securities. The development of financial instruments created in this way has been presented against the backdrop of the evolution of securitization on the U.S. financial market.

It must be noted that financial instruments issued in the process of securitization represent an extremely varied mix that will satisfy even the most sophisticated investors. The securities vary in terms of their income rate, redemption dates, and risk. Investors are therefore able to flexibly shape their portfolios according to their own preferences.

Additionally, the diversity of financial instruments enables investors to adapt the securitization process to match their own objectives. In addition to reaching the capital market, the objectives may include balancing assets and liabilities or creating financial performance indicators.

The article reviews the stable mortgage backed securities market, the agile growth of the market for securitized financial assets with the exclusion of asset backed securities, and the youngest segment of the securitized instruments market - collateralized debt obligations.

Issues related to information asymmetry on the market fall beyond the scope of the article, as does indicating risks resulting from incorrect evaluation of individual securities. The key goal of the article is to present the wide range of options available both to investors, and to the entities initiating the securitization process, depending on what their objectives are on a specific capital market.