Ucits at a glance: Ucits recover lost ground
The foot has come off the gas for many funds - 57% of funds did not break the 2% return barrier.

CLOs dodge offshore driller as restructuring credit event question posed
The Americas Determinations Committee has been asked to rule on whether UK headquartered offshore driller Valaris has triggered a restructuring credit event

LP round-up: mighty Oaks win $1 billion apiece from Calpers
Credit investors allocated over $3 billion to 18 credit managers this week across a wide range of strategies

Värde targets $1 billion for inaugural dedicated credit dislocation fund
Värde is seeking to raise $1 billion for its dislocation and distressed debt fund, according to an investor presentation seen by Creditflux. The firm is targeting a first close this month

Beneath the triple C: downgrade rate slows as $8 billion of CLO loans tumble
May offered some respite to CLO portfolios as corporate downgrades to triple C were reduced heavily - affecting just $6.67 billion of US CLO paper and €1.09 billion of European CLO portfolios

Some managers calculated their CLOs were passing OC tests, only to find them failing the next day
Corporate credit downgrade storms have been weathered before, but this one has come out of season

CLOs face trading restrictions as bankruptcies mount
CLO managers could be handcuffed in impending bankruptcies if tranche downgrades continue and restricted trading periods kick in

Libor fall weighs heavily on loan and CLO portfolios
Libor floors are set to return to prominence after three-month rates tumbled to 0.38% by 18 May, returning the loan market’s base rate to its lowest level since the oil and gas crisis of 2014-16

A different kind of crisis
Panellists on Creditflux’s US CLO webinar were positive about the robustness of CLO structures and the role of cure contributions. But they warned about zombie defaults and gaming tests

Fund performance: CLO tranches move up
April returns managed a partial bounce back after a tumultuous March. 82% of funds listed in the Creditflux database made positive returns, showing at least small signs of recovery after 90% of all funds listed posted negative returns in March

Credit funds at a glance (June 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Ucits at a glance: Ucits begin recovery phase
April returns prove positive for Ucits funds as 85% of those listed in the Creditflux database have moved into the black after a rough March

Leveraged loan spreads to widen to March levels, warn UBS strategists
US leveraged loan spreads could widen back to March levels of 825 basis points as default risk increases, according to strategists at UBS.

Beneath the triple C: April showers send buckets overboard
Downgrade waves rocked the CLO market in April as Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded 135 corporate borrowers to triple C or below, from ratings above that level. The downgrades put CLOs in rough waters as $41.6 billion of such loans are prevalent in US CLOs while €5.64 are moored in European CLO portfolios – affecting 5.92% of the US market and 4.37% of the European market

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Past returns: Death by triple Cs? A step too far
15 months ago in Creditflux we reported that corporate credit downgrades, rather than defaults, were the biggest problem facing CLO portfolio managers

Credit markets adjust to stay-at-home rules
Lockdown orders across the world have forced the loan and CLO markets to modernise certain industry practices at speed, leading to speculation that some of the emergency measures adopted could become permanent, according to market participants

Credit pickers need luck to avoid OC trap
We know what you’re thinking: is my CLO failing its OC test? The truth is, in all this volatility, it can be hard to keep track, unless your deal has high quality liquid loans

 

Credit hedge fund returns: March 2020 stats
Monthly performance across credit hedge funds

Fund performance: Index tranche investors make it work from home
March brought a drastic drop in return figures as covid-19 swept across the globe, as Orchard tops the Creditflux performance tables

Ucits at a glance: Long-short credit capitalises on coronavirus
Ucits funds were not spared from the crash in mid-March, but Pictet outperforms

Credit funds at a glance (May 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

'Nochu covenant' leaves big CLO managers in a trading bind
Stipulations pushed into CLOs by the world’s largest CLO investor Norinchukin to limit its exposure to covenant-lite loans are causing headaches for managers on its approved list hoping to use the dislocation to build par  

Apollo earmarks $20 billion for dislocation fundraising over 12 months
Apollo's returns for corporate credit, structured credit and direct origination in the first quarter were down 8.3%, 14.7% and 4.8%, respectively, but the firm is looking to launch various credit strategies, including capital solutions, dislocation strategies and distressed strategies, that it “expects to accumulate $20 billion over the next year”

Credit pickers need luck to avoid OC trap