'Nochu covenant' leaves big CLO managers in a trading bind
Stipulations pushed into CLOs by the world’s largest CLO investor Norinchukin to limit its exposure to covenant-lite loans are causing headaches for managers on its approved list hoping to use the dislocation to build par  

CLO market braces for another wave of loan downgrades
A wave of negative rating actions swept the leveraged loan and CLO market in April. “Companies will look to secure incremental capital which will lead to further rating pressure,” says Philip Raciti, portfolio manager and head of US performing credit at Bardin Hill Investment Partners

Beneath the triple C: $31.6 billion of CLO credits feel downgrade pain
March madness took a toll on CLOs as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded 4.25% of the portfolios in the US and 1.84% in Europe to triple C or below in just one month (some of these were already triple C rated, only to fall further).

CLO warehouses trigger draw stops as loan market tanks
CLO warehouses are being put on ice due to ‘draw stop’ triggers, which have come into play as loan prices plunge.

Beneath the triple C: mighty CLO buckets from Akorns grow
Rating agencies went on a downgrading spree in February, with Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s cutting 20 corporate names to triple C or below – affecting $2.78 billion of paper in US CLOs and €316.6 million in European CLOs. 

Licence and registration: loan spreads get speeding ticket as CLOs play catch-up
The sharp rally in corporate credit means that CLO spreads are going to have to rapidly follow suit with investors informing Creditflux that US CLO triple As should be pricing at 105-107 basis points to make deal economics work. 

Loan trading round-up: CLO managers fall out of love with First Data
An analysis of loan trading among CLO managers in February shows that First Data is falling down the pecking order with managers selling $182 million of the company's loans

CLOs are not like CDOs, says Barclays, but warns of loan quality impact
CLOs are far removed from the kinds of structured products that contributed to the 2008/09 global financial crisis, Barclays has argued in a wide-ranging research piece this week

Term structure is being developed for floating rate benchmark SOFR, says LSTA
The Secured Overnight Financing Rate, known as SOFR, is being developed into a term structure

Shrinking spread cushions prove hard for CLOs
 Falling loan spreads are placing ever tighter constraints on CLO managers’ choice of investments just as the loan supply itself is declining

Fees on the line as CLO investors fight back over ramp-up failings
CLO managers globally are being chastised for failing to deliver on their model portfolios.