Rolling the dice on Turkey and Italy
Gambling specialists with operations around the Mediterranean are facing political risks and currency falls – but there are opportunities to hit the jackpot if investors play their cards right

Weighted average life divides CLO industry
Creditflux’s second CLO Census reveals stark differences of opinion on weighted average life and par-flush for US CLOs. But there is a clear consensus on which bank is best at CLO execution

Loan market finds balance as spreads edge wider
New issue volumes were robust in July with relatively few loan refinancings getting done. Loan portfolio managers say the loan market is finally balanced, having been in favour of borrowers

Being long-only is just so 1980s
At the Credit Dimensions event in New York, structured credit investors looking to spruce up or repair their portfolios were advised to look at CSOs, index tranches and credit default swaps

Blockchain drags credit into the future

Star names join Barclays as it pushes into CLOs

Loan managers can start to be selective

Not a bad time to try your hand at CLOs

Trimming hedge costs with a mark-to-market approach

Steelmakers forge links in face of overcapacity

Investors gain upper hand in doc negotiations

Evolving strategy takes Norinchukin close to top spot in CLO investment
Over the years, Nochu has tweaked its cov-lite stipulations, and added mid market and European CLO exposure to its CLO investments. It’s now nearly the market’s biggest investor  

New rules encourage growth in blossoming risk sharing market
Significant risk transfer deals have generally been issued towards the end of the year – but the first quarter of 2018 has opened with a flurry of deals across primary and secondary markets

Aircraft lessors: gathering clouds lead to talk of turbulence
Aircraft leasing companies have been cruising over the past two years as passenger numbers grew, but rising interest rates and trade tariff concerns are making some bondholders nervous

Managers spot opportunity as leveraged loans soften
An abundance of US leveraged loan issuance helped soften secondary prices even though the overall market is highly bid. Meanwhile, investors’ preference for floating rate paper hit high yield

At the heart of CLO doc negotiations
As investors up and down the capital structure shared their views on fictional US and European CLOs, we discovered that par flushes must be worded carefully or they could be a deal-breaker
 

Higher leverage is on the horizon - but, for now, take in the MFN sunsets
It’s clear from our analysis of most favoured nation protections and sunsets that strong demand for loans is enabling borrowers to insist on advantageous terms even as they increase leverage

Talk turns towards five-year deals as bespokes flourish
There is growing appetite for longer-dated synthetic CDOs as credit curves steepen and competition among dealers steps up, but short mezz positions have also been working

There are no perfect hedges for CLOs
As the CLO market gets hotter and hotter, investors are seeking hedges against the inevitable downturn. But although there are a wide range of options, there is no consensus on which is best
 

Investors gather to talk teams and tactics
With US CLO risk retention recently ruled off-side, attendees at the Creditflux Symposium were expecting a number of small, nimble managers to enter the field of play as the year progresses

Experienced CSAM holds off boutiques to win biggest prize
Credit Suisse Asset Management became a two-time winner of the Creditflux Manager of the Year award last month after picking up the 2018 trophy in front of a packed house at London’s Landmark Hotel on 9 May

CLO performance is faltering – a loans shock would help
Early CLO 2.0s benefited from wide loan spreads. Today, that arbitrage opportunity has closed and returns have gradually diminished – yet there are now similarities to the market in 2007

Issuers excited by busy first quarter
After 13 months of compulsory risk retention for US CLOs, it seems that the simplified regulatory regime is already encouraging a host of CLOs from returnees and new entrants to the market
 

Libor rise gives timely boost to US loan yields
Competition for US loans among CLOs, ETFs and mutual funds is keeping margins in check. However, the 60bp increase in Libor in Q1 means there’s still reason to pile into the loan market

Tracking down the credit industry’s original winners
All winning managers at the first Creditflux awards survived the crisis, under their own names – like BlackRock – or under new owners. But what happened to the people who collected the trophies?