Credit funds at a glance

A round-up of fundraising and people moves in credit

CLOs at a glance
Managers focus on AUM building via new issues

Fund performance
Long-short and high yield keep up the momentum

Moving on from the late 2018 hangover
It might be too early to call a full recovery, but it’s fair to say that the US loan market is back on track with $48 billion of institutional issuance in 2019 — 88% of which is made up of new issues

Finding the best managers, CLOs and direct lenders

CLOs at a glance
Floodgates open with new issues everywhere

Loans recover slightly after late-2018 havoc
Secondary loan prices have ticked higher this year, although they are still some way off the levels reached before the fourth quarter slump. However, M&As are starting to fill the new issue pipeline
 

It’s going to be a credit picker’s market
Our panel of experts believe that the credit market will be volatile this year, but there will be opportunities in European credit and additional tier one bonds, trups CDOs and unitranches

Keep calm and buy corporate loans
Calm heads prevailed in 2018. Markets were volatile and risk retention was supposed to cause problems, but there was no need to panic and volumes went on to break records set in 2014

Retail fund pain is a CLO manager’s gain
Retail funds dumped loans in record volumes late in 2018, creating ideal conditions for CLOs to capitalise with performing credits available in the mid-90s for the first time in years

Loan volumes fall in Europe but rise in US
European CLO managers seem to be eating into the loan market with more appetite than their, US counterparts, who are perhaps spoiled for choice. But background risks lurk in both markets

The financial crisis was the making of ’em
Some of the largest and best performing CLO managers before the crisis were fairly nimble by today’s standards — but these 1.0 outperformers are now among the biggest names in the industry

Risk retention was difficult, but worth it
When US skin-in-the-game rules were announced in 2014, it was clear they would be a burden for managers. But no one expected risk retention funds to bring new types of investor into CLOs

Finding the hidden value in success
Learning from one’s mistakes is often cited as key to professional development. However, widening this perspective and paying attention to things that go well can further improve performance

September: Ucits at a glance
Ucits funds continue to post mixed returns

Europe adapts to harsher CLO climate
The European CLO market survived the financial crisis and ensuing risk retention obligations. Conditions remain tough, but we expect a 25% increase in the number of active managers

Buy and hold isn’t only option for CLO equity
New US CLO equity is being more regularly flipped into b-wics. Figures suggest that equity pieces of 2017 and 2018 US deals made up 22% of the b-wic market over the past four quarters

Widening whisks market back to 2017
Right now, CLO volumes are healthy and the list of active managers is steadily growing. But with CLO liability spreads reverting to where they were a year ago, some issuers are a little nervous.

Managers digest blockbuster deals
Third quarter loan and bond volumes tend to be small — but this year corporate credit fund managers have swallowed huge deals from AkzoNobel, Altice and Refinitiv

New issues keep managers busy in summer season
New issue loans made up 74.1% of volumes in August, supporting US CLO managers looking to ramp up. Spreads tightened to 368bp, but managers can’t complain — it’s much better than in Q1

Finding a way around the regulator’s web
In Europe, direct lending funds are usually caught in the complex web of requirements spun by national regulators. But unregulated funds can sidestep many rules and be launched more quickly

Updated, upgraded and ready to launch
Whether it’s a software update or a full-blown upgrade to a newer model, CLO technology is advancing fast, with Be-Spoke and Ellington the latest to launch new types of securitisations

Time to reprice? Then compare the market
CLOs no longer fizzle out. Instead, they go through multiple repricings, where, with stakes lower and deadlines tighter than when they were issued, their managers can try alternative arrangers

August: fund performance
CLO spreads jumped wider in August, but funds that invest in these assets have been able to outperform

September: credit funds at a glance
White Oak Global Advisors held a $2.1 billion final close on a new direct lending fund, while Phil Raciti's move from CVC Credit Partners to Halcyon Capital Management was one of the biggest moves in the credit industry