Lenders hit by LMEs will eventually have to increase the cost of capital
Chipping away at what has made loans successful has a cost

ESG initiatives should avoid unfavourable reactions by pursuing substance over form
By any financial measure, the collaboration of trans activist Dylan Mulvaney with Bud Light hurt the brand. What was formerly America’s best-selling beer saw its market share collapse — from over 35% in May 2023 to around 9% in June — because of a boycott by US conservatives after a 60-second TikTok video aired of Mulvaney drinking it.

Fed members need to restore their credibility, which could translate into excessive tightening
Rising wages have boosted spending and GDP — but the party can’t last forever

"All that remains is to thank all of you who have kept faith with my monthly confessions of insanity"
With the economic outlook now beyond a joke, Welshcake signs off amid denials he is actually a Welsh footballer  

"This ‘higher rates for longer’ saga is more like the 1920-21 depression than the 1970s high inflation era"
Sometimes you have to swallow your medicine and take a step back to go forwards

They said it: "We are proud to be moving our industry in a direction that will bring greater liquidity..."
Brian Carosielli, co-head of global credit trading at Bank of America, on a new CLO trading platform 

"The shutdown of economies in the pandemic showed it’s better to suffer up front"
Rather than prolong the agony, central banks would be better off bunching their planned rate hikes into one    

CSAM does the CLO awards double
Winning the Creditflux Manager of the Year award is a feat in itself. Winning it back-to-back in such different markets is an outstanding achievement — and CSAM can take great pride in it

We’ll get through this awkward patch
Wide liabilities have made pricing CLOs trickier in the past few months. But speakers at Creditflux’s CLO Symposium were optimistic that the arbitrage is OK — so long as you can place those triple As

"It’ll take something special to drag my attention away from Depp/Heard, but Jerome Powell could just do it"
It’s not easy letting go of the past, but May heralds the start of something new in credit

Points up front: "It’s all me, me, me"
A study last month by the University of Marburg found that narcissistic fund managers are up to 34% more likely to deviate from their advertised investment style, and they tend to underperform non-narcissists.

"Faltering oil supply is lamentable at a time of strategic and moral shortfall"
We need to accept the pain and cut dependence on Russian oil today

Flexible approach is designed to deliver competitive performance
Nuveen’s Symphony CLOs benefit from teams who are active across a range of credit and bond funds

"The loan market is the septic tank for sub-single B LBO financing"
Portfolios of single name IG CDS are less complex and more liquid than CLOs

"Strong growth is not necessary for good loan or bond performance, but it keeps a recession at bay"
The picture in credit was looking good (even with inflation rising) until Russia invaded Ukraine

They said it: "The third term is Jinping’s legacy..."
... He does not care about near-term growth."

"In 2022, being slow will not be such a bad thing"
St David losing its place as the UK’s smallest city would be a travesty. Replacing Libor might be worse

"If ESG funds only talk the talk, it is because investors, legislators and regulators don’t walk the walk"
Whatever an ESG fund means to you, it probably means something different to the next investor

Everyone’s ramping

"Purchasing IG CLO debt was a key driver of success for 1.0 CLOs"
Longer reinvestment periods, the ability to buy IG tranches and improved loan settlements would improve CLOs

"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  

"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

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