Letter from the editor
It’s a curious thing to come back to your beginning, but that’s where I find myself, writing this letter as the new editor of Creditflux. I first joined 17 years ago, fresh out of university. 

Past returns: Tracing Fair Oaks’ roots
10 years ago in Creditflux, we reported on Miguel Ramos Fuentenebro’s nascent firm GMB Partners securing its first mandate

Points up front: CLOs: safer than money in the bank
We’ve long extolled the virtues of CLO investments... 

"Dispersion should manifest in potential fallen angel credits that are likely to proliferate"
IG and crossover names present a compelling alternative to shorting HY credit  

"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  

Points up front: Whatever the size, CLO performance dwarfs others
A graphic depicting the investment fund universe was doing the rounds on social media late in 2022...

“Pension fund managers should look to take advantage of a rare opportunity in corporate CDS”
The October sell-off in gilts highlights a glaring lack of exposure to CDS

"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

"Forget the World Cup, the macro-economic catastrophe cup has more well-matched contenders"
Government bonds are rallying in some quarters, but the odds are on more stress feeding into credit  

They said it: "I don’t know and I don’t care about ESG"
One of our CLO Census responders has a strong view (or not) on ESG

Points up front: Shhh, don’t tell! Secret CLO pricing is in progress
The CLO industry has come a long way in the last decade — so much so that managers can now boast of their track records and CLOs are no longer (wrongly) touted as the acronym that caused the 2008 financial crisis. But in recent weeks some CLO market participants seem to have gone back to a time when pricing a CLO was taboo

Points up front: CLO managers didn’t take advantage of volatility, say CLO managers
Creditflux’s CLO Census shows CLO managers can be hard on themselves

"Value persists in IG, but higher interest rates are a threat. Opening the synthetic toolbox can help"
Fiscal and monetary policy are pulling in opposite directions, but value in IG can be accessed via CDS and CSOs

Past returns: US firms become Euro CLO issuers
Five years ago in Creditflux we reported on CIFC Asset Management and Voya Investment Management harbouring European CLO ambitions as US issuers became accustomed to risk retention.

They said it: "Can we have a best hair in the CLO market category?"
The CLO Census is nigh

Points up front: Form an orderly queue. Or follow the celebs
If we have learned one thing over the past month, it’s that queuing in an orderly manner is very important to the British public. No matter your status, you simply must wait your turn.

"If anything is to be salvaged from the rest of 2022, the economy needs a hero — and quickly"
Something has gotta give as a recession looms in the US. Might it be energy?

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 

Points up front: BofA takes both sides
As dealers joined forces for the Octaura electronic trading platform, KopenTech announced a rival...

"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

Representation really matters
At our London Women in CLOs event, Creditflux’s Tanvi Gupta and Michelle D’Souza spoke about how inspiring it can be to see someone who looks like you achieve success in your industry

"When the US market gets legislation it does not like, people sue..."
The difference between Americans and Europeans in regards to CLOs

Points up front: Who is going into the Creditflux interview room?
The Creditflux CLO Symposium brought together 620 market participants from across the globe, and they had one question on their lips: what’s going on in the Creditflux interview room?