Beneath the triple C: Life could be better, but it’s just a letter, under the CCC
Many market participants were eagerly looking forward to a break in December after a gruelling year, but the rating agencies were in no mood to oblige. 

Fitch raises low end of its default forecasts for US leveraged loans and high yield
Fitch Ratings has increased the low end of its US leveraged loan and high yield default forecast ranges to reflect growing macroeconomic headwinds

Loan managers must act to prevent CSA leakage, say CLO investors
CLO investors have made clear that managers need to stay on top of US loan amendments that are switching benchmark from Libor to Sofr

Structured credit pair among 61 to earn promotion at Carlyle
Carlyle has promoted two members of its US CLO team among 61 new partners and managing directors 

Plenty more US CLOs in the CCC as buckets pass 5%, finds S&P
US CLO triple C baskets have nudged to 5.02% in November from 4.4% the prior month

Banks are motivated sellers of loans and CLOs can benefit, says Eagle Point
Banks offloading loans long held on their balance sheets are providing CLOs with the opportunity to pickup primary market assets at deeply discounted prices, Tom Majewski, managing partner at Eagle Point Credit Management said on a company earnings call on Tuesday

Beneath the triple C: Stormy October hits CLOs with rising tide of downgrades
After a slight respite in the pace of downgrades over the summer for CLOs, October brought renewed momentum as macro-economic pressures - primarily high interest rate burdens for corporate borrowers and supply side inflation - became the recurring rationale

The Last Tranche with Bain's Wright: Manager consolidation will be likely as benefits of scale come to bear

In this episode of The Last Tranche, Bain Capital Credit managing director John Wright discusses the manager landscape in the CLO market

CLO fintech Octaura hires veteran as chief operating and financial officer
Octaura, a new fintech company that offers electronic trading of leveraged loans and CLOs, has hired Jason Cohen as chief operating officer and chief financial officer effective immediately

Private equity firms are becoming CLO converts: TwentyFour
Private equity firms have increasingly bought CLO and other securitised debt tranches in recent weeks instead of their usual preference for physical assets - a trade TwentyFour believes "makes perfect sense"

Leveraged loan issuance unlikely to return in force until late 2023, conference hears
The leveraged loan primary issuance pipeline is headed for an elongated pause and primary loan activity is unlikely to return dramatically until late in 2023, attendees at IMN's ABS East conference in Miami heard on Monday

US managers recalibrate as Euro CLO portfolio spreads rise: Moody's
CLO managers have had to readjust this year and data from Moody’s Investor Services shows weighted average rating factor scores for all US CLOs have held steady, while weighted average spreads have dropped 0.15%

Warning signs flash as B3 share of loans reaches record level
Credit analysts are sounding the alarm as the portion of the loan and high yield universe rated B3 or B- surged to a record level in the third quarter

Blackstone scores record with century of US CLOs
Blackstone Credit has become the first manager to price 100 US CLOs, following the printing of Storm King Park CLO in August

Creditors look to block asset stripping in loan docs
Loan managers are using their increased negotiating leverage amid tighter credit conditions to push back on private equity sponsors’ ability to asset strip portfolio companies

US loan index falls below 92 to almost wipe out gains since July
The S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index sank to an average bid of 91.92 cents by Monday, down by two points in as many weeks, wiping out almost all the gains seen in the late-summer market rally

Nerves of steel needed for CLOs as Phoenix Services files for chapter 11
CLOs hold $341.54 million of steel service provider Phoenix Services Topco which filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware yesterday

CLO OC ratios tick higher in US, but August defaults add pressure: Fitch
Senior and junior overcollateralisation test cushions in reinvesting CLOs increased to an average of 9% and 3.9% respectively after a string of issuers defaulted in August, according to Fitch Ratings

European IG CLO mezz is attractive versus US paper: Barclays
There is no reason for European CLO mezzanine tranches to be as wide as they are versus equivalent US paper, according to a strategy note from Barclays.

Judges rule in favour of Citi in overturning Revlon decision
Citi has won its appeal against Revlon creditors, forcing a consortium of asset managers to return more than half a billion dollars received in an accidental transfer in 2020

Beneath the triple C: US CLOs take a dip in the triple C as Europe watches from the sun lounger
The US CLO market bore the brunt of downgrades to triple C in July and August, with a total of $6.22 billion of paper affected. European CLOs enjoyed a more relaxing summer holiday, with only 1 name representing €33.88 million worth of bonds downgraded to triple C.  

Cineworld buys ticket for DIP facility with chapter 11 filing
Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court For The Southern District Of Texas on Wednesday, less than a month after the UK-based cinema operator announced Chapter 11 was among the options it was considering to “achieve its restructuring objectives”

B- share of CLO portfolios rated by S&P hits all-time high after 30 downgrades in a month
The share of CLO portfolio assets rated B- by S&P hit an all-time high of 29% after 30 loans were downgraded in August

CLO engine sputters as loan recovery hits road block
US CLO issuance suffered a precipitous decline in August as firms struggled to adjust to the new pricing landscape

Three defaults mean CLO OC ratios to decline by 17bp in September, says BofA
CLO overcollateralisation ratios are set to decline by 17 basis points in September following the defaults of Cineworld, Endo and Carestream health, according to a research paper from Bank of America