CLO market mood sours amid bitter economic outlook

Beneath the triple C: ebbs and flows leave triple C levels at a temporary stasis
Following a rising tide of downgrades in May the loan market stabilised somewhat in June, with seven issuers held by CLOs downgraded to triple C and a counter-swell of five names upgraded to single B.

Fund performance: Rocky May piles on the misery for credit hedge funds
Negative fund performance soared in May

Revlon spares no blushes for CLO managers in filing for Chapter 11
Troubled lender Revlon Consumer Products filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy late Wednesday night. The default is likely to have a weighty impact on the CLO market 

Beneath the triple C: CLOs take first knock since covid scrapes
CLO managers have been hit by a number of loan downgrades to triple C for the first time since the wave of pandemic-related cuts trickled to a halt in early 2021. Companies indirectly linked to the health sector suffered most in May 

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

Fund performance: Credit hits another bump in the road after March revival
There was more upheaval for credit funds in April, reversing the mini-recovery in March as 40% of funds made positive returns, a decrease on the 47% in March

Envision exchange leaves some lenders sick, but CSAM finds prevention is better than cure
Envision Healthcare’s distressed debt exchange has rocked the CLO market, with over $1.68 billion of the firm’s loans held by US CLOs. But some of the largest managers have avoided the name completely 

Macro woes have dented CLO and loan outlook: Barclays
Rising interest rates and elevated macro volatility have negatively impacted the performance outlook for both loans and CLOs, according to Barclays credit strategists

We’re drifting apart
Everyone’s issuing US CLOs these days and it is tempting to believe the crowd of managers is blending into one. However, overall portfolio overlap has dropped to 37.7% across 2021 CLOs  

Market participants split over biggest risk to CLOs: Creditflux US CLO Summit
There are potential threats to the CLO market from all angles, but during a lively opening panel at Creditflux’s US CLO Summit on Tuesday – the first CLO conference to be held in New York since the pandemic – speakers responded to a poll showing 67% of audience members felt inflation/rising interest rates was the biggest hazard

Spac pricing hints at Sound Point's growth ambitions in loan market
Sound Point Acquisition Corp has priced a $225 million IPO, signalling that credit asset manager Sound Point Capital Management is looking to expand its platform

Ucits at a glance: 2022 opens shakily but with a familiar lead
Ucits funds moved slowly into 2022 as 59% made negative returns in January

Fund performance: Groundhog Day as 2021 leaders start strong
CLO funds once again claim the most top performing spots as seven out of 10 funds belong to the category

LP round up: two CLO funds win support as Cali pensions home in on private credit
Two investors revealed allocations to European and US CLO funds, private credit allocations increases and private credit consultant searches get underway

Three-month term Sofr spikes ahead of rate hikes to bridge gap to Libor
Three-month term Sofr rates have shot up in the last few days with sources saying March interest rate hikes are being fully priced in. Three-month Sofr hit 17.11 basis points on Friday having been at 14.52bp on Tuesday and just 9.11bp at the start of the year.

Värde promotes three credit specialists to partner
Värde Partners has promoted Jim Dunbar, Aneek Mamik and Carlos Sanz Esteve to partner

US pensions assign $1.5 billion to 16 credit managers in December
US public pensions rounded off 2021 by gifting credit managers around $1.5 billion in commitments, according to documents seen by Creditflux

A fresh approach to loss distribution
Considering how cash balances change over time, loss distribution models can look very different to conventional thinking. So is your CLO’s pricing based on incorrect assumptions?  

"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

Eagle Point hits $300 million hard cap on BDC-lending fund
Eagle Point Credit Management says it has held a $300 million final close on its Defensive Income Fund, hitting its hard cap and exceeding its original $250 million target

Brookfield hires industry veteran as public securities CIO
Brookfield Asset Management has hired a long-serving credit and equity market professional as chief investment officer for its public securities group

Everyone’s ramping

Still plenty more fish in the triple C

Fitch cuts US leveraged loan default rate projection
US leveraged loan default rate is anticipated to be just 1.5% by year-end 2022, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. That’s down from the rating agencies’ original 2.5%-3.5% projection