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

Up to 40% more US loan supply will hit primary market next year: Barclays
US leveraged loan supply in 2023 will outstrip this year’s tally by a good margin, according to Barclays credit strategists in New York. But it will remain below average, particularly given the increased size of the index

Proposed SEC rules "possibly existential" for open-ended loan funds, says LSTA
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's upcoming new rule focusing on liquidity management in open-ended funds could have “possibly existential” and negative implications for loan mutual funds and exchange traded funds in its current form, according to the LSTA

"CLOs could withstand another 13.4% of downgrades to triple C if the price drops to 50"
CLOs are well positioned, even if there are mass downgrades to triple C  

Cairn begins "new chapter" as it rebrands to Polus
Cairn Capital has been renamed Polus Capital Management, which brings it together with Bybrook Capital, the credit asset manager it acquired in 2021.  

Fund performance: Wake us up when September ends
After a resurgent August, credit markets hit a rough patch in September, with every Creditflux index posting negative returns, and only 12.9% of funds in our listings showing a positive return.

Credit hedge fund returns (November 2022)
Credit hedge fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (November 2022)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit

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

Sculptor CEO Levin refutes "personal issue" accusation by ex-chief Och
Sculptor Capital Management’s independent board and the company’s chief executive officer and chief investment officer Jimmy Levin have fired back at former CEO and founder Daniel Och after he cited a “personal issue” in reference to Levin’s past

Franklin Templeton wraps up deal for $35bn Alcentra
Franklin Templeton has completed its acquisition of BNY Mellon’s $35 billion credit unit Alcentra

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"

Aristotle boosts credit business with Pacific AM acquisition
Pacific Life Insurance Company has agreed to sell its credit asset manager – Pacific Asset Management – to Aristotle Capital Management

Pimco targets up to $5 billion for flexible credit fund
The fund will invest across capital solutions, distressed and stressed opportunities, and idiosyncratic positions

Angelo Gordon makes senior hire to cater to insurance company investors
Angelo Gordon is expanding into investment solutions for insurance companies after hiring from JP Morgan 

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

Fidelity Investments eyes CLOs as part of multi-strategy credit fund
Fidelity Investments is preparing to launch a new multi-strategy credit fund, which will “opportunistically rotate across the entire credit spectrum”

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%

CIFC hires Carlyle's credit investor relations head
CIFC Asset Management has hired T Michael Johnson as managing director and co-head of business development

What matters is what you do with it
CLO managers yearn for flexibility so they can take advantage when credit sells off. But it isn’t enough on its own: triple C-flex CLOs saw portfolios erode this year, while CBOs outperformed

Investors tipped to take on key role in growth of CFOs
It’s early days in the renaissance of the market for collateralised fund obligations (CFOs), but market participants are looking forward to how the product will evolve.

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

Fund performance: August provides much-needed relief for CLO funds
.August fund performance