"Do not rush to set up a check-box approach with negative screening and start de-investing"
Instead of rushing through an ESG framework, asset managers need to adopt a long- and short-term approach

"Alongside larger private equity funds, loan volumes will continue to grow"
Spire's Phil Bennett-Britton takes our credit quiz

"In some ways, CLOs resemble a quirky, cottage industry more than a trillion-dollar market"
CLO volumes outstanding have passed $1 trillion, but index omission and private placements are holding us back

"Pain is on the way: spreads are too tight, while compression and carry are done. But what if it's not?"
Welshcake reminds us that mid-cycle portfolio management is a funny old game  

"Technology won’t replace human judgement. In ESG a qualitative review is necessary"
The social aspect of ESG must be given sufficient weight in investment decisions  

"We should be mindful of the transfer of power to the C-suite that inheres in ESG"
As shareholder returns become one factor among many, the C-suite becomes more powerful  

"The lack of standardised ESG data creates opportunities for data-driven investors"
Investors can gain an edge by using technology to help parse ESG data

Points up front: Abrdn finds text appeal
Marketing consultants have been working overtime to concoct new brand names, but their efforts have not been met with universal acclaim

Points up front: The flattest term curve - work anniversary rewards
If you think CLO term curves are flat with a handful of basis points between three and five-year triple A CLOs, then you haven’t seen anything yet

"The heterogeneous set of KPIs make comparisons difficult and self-policing hurts credibility"
Loans with ESG ratchets are popular and a good way to align incentives – but we need accountable external reviewers

We say it: Creditflux salutes women in credit
The credit industry is blessed with many strong women and for this issue of Creditflux we’re exclusively hearing their voices across our news, analysis and columns

A transformational framework means fund managers have to drive real-world change
There are managers who make transformational investments, those who incorporate ESG and those who do nothing

The imperfect incorporation of ESG is no excuse not to act
Managers’ legal ESG responsibilities may be vague, but they must still set up a credible strategy

All types of financing will have to incorporate ESG risks and use their real economy influence
Fund managers can no longer ignore, postpone or hide from measures to tackle climate change

Cessation of activity mid-December is an opportunity to switch off… and let the mind wander
Welshcake is grateful for a lull in credit markets. The downtime has inspired him to dream up a CLO play

CLO collateral managers who are able to update their documents could gain warf advantage
Moody’s is reviewing its approach to warf. Changes could boost managers’ ability to trade

Questions will need answering about where a manager's fiduciary responsibility lies
A university lecturer gives Welshcake a shock with a CLO presentation that points to shady trading games

They should have followed Revlon's Double Twist mascara slogan of 2009: "It's worth a double take"
Blockchain might not eradicate all problems in credit, but it should reduce human error

They said it: "We’re going to change the world of finance"
Big ambitions in blockchain

Points up front: How much do I owe you?
Payment systems in the credit industry had a bad August

They said it: "Imagine a garden party and all of a sudden a big wasp shows up"
On Creditflux’s US CLO webinar last month, Napier Park’s head of US CLO investments Serhan Secmen described the March sell-off as a garden party

They said it: Can I be a bond investor and invest in Netflix?
The response of a loan portfolio manager after we asked where should loan investors park their cash?

Points up front: Channelling Twain, Agent Smith and Mike Tyson
Lockdown can adversely affect one’s grasp of reality, and for credit portfolio managers this has manifested itself in a penchant for quoting famous (sometimes fictional) figures

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

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