June 2023 US Leveraged Highlights
Debtwire has released the June 2023 US Leveraged Highlights, featuring key trends in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets.

Fund performance
Good month for CLO funds sees six in top 10 as Axiom sets pace

Loan Highlights 2Q23: Running aground
The global loan market endured a bleak first half of the year, with the overall 1H23 volume falling 28% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.9 trillion, the lowest showing since 2012.

Hedge fund Sona taps Barclays exec
Private credit manager Victory Park Capital has launched Triumph Capital Markets, a new platform that focuses on structured financing and capital markets

May 2023 US Leveraged Highlights
Leveraged investors continue to favor bonds to loans, according to the Debtwire May 2023 US Leveraged Highlights, featuring key trends in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets.

CLO market finds feet again after ‘miniature credit crunch’ blows up spreads in March
Markets were rocked by what some observers have called a “miniature credit crunch” in March, with disruption beginning with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ending with UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse.

CLO funds make best of a bad situation
It can’t get any worse can it? Well, it did in 2022, when credit spreads kept moving wider. Still, CLO funds were able to withstand the pressure, and they outperformed other credit strategies

Fund performance: European CLO funds lead the way
February was a positive month for many funds, as only one quarter failed to reach the black. This builds off a stellar start to the year: 96% of funds reached a positive return in January

Barclays won't let sleeping dogs lie after another Newfoundland CLO reset
Newfoundland CLO, the long running and world's largest balance-sheet CLO, has been given a new leash of life by upsizing in a reset yesterday, according to announcements from Moody’s and Scope Ratings.

Proskaeur hires CFO specialist from SocGen
Proskauer has announced the appointment of Matthew Kerfoot as partner in its finance group in New York

Fund performance: Credit funds end difficult 2022 on a positive note
In December 66% of credit funds reached a positive return, following an even better November where 81% of all funds pushed into the black

"Conditions making deal financing challenging for issuers can harm beneficial terms for investors"
Direct lending terms look better than at any point in the past decade. But is there enough to go around?

Lights go out for Heritage Power with 120 CLOs left in the dark
US based power plant operator Heritage Power filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the bankruptcy court of Texas on Tuesday night, impacting $124.45 million of assets held by 120 US CLOs.

Beneath the triple C: Life could be better, but it’s just a letter, under the CCC
Many market participants were eagerly looking forward to a break in December after a gruelling year, but the rating agencies were in no mood to oblige. 

CVC plots further quasi-CLOs after landmark €400 million deal
CVC Credit closed a CLO-like’ vehicle backed by senior secured loans in December. Officials at the firm say they are in early stage discussions to launch similar vehicles after interest from equity investors"  

LP round up: 27 managers find the top corner with investor wins
Credit fund managers like to take it one fund at a time and give it 110% for their 90-minute investor fund pitches - and it's working as $3.8 billion was allocated during November and early December. The gaffer would be proud. 

European CLO managers trade loans to avoid (par) burn
Between March and July, European CLO managers traded €21 billion of assets within CLOs that were still in their reinvestment period as opportunities arose amid a weaker macro environment and Russia’s war with Ukraine

Plenty more US CLOs in the CCC as buckets pass 5%, finds S&P
US CLO triple C baskets have nudged to 5.02% in November from 4.4% the prior month

Credit Suisse to streamline European CLO manager client list
Credit Suisse is unlikely to be among the heavyweights in European CLO origination with market sources indicating that the bank is reducing its CLO manager client list

Beneath the triple C: Stormy October hits CLOs with rising tide of downgrades
After a slight respite in the pace of downgrades over the summer for CLOs, October brought renewed momentum as macro-economic pressures - primarily high interest rate burdens for corporate borrowers and supply side inflation - became the recurring rationale

Proposed SEC rules "possibly existential" for open-ended loan funds, says LSTA
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's upcoming new rule focusing on liquidity management in open-ended funds could have “possibly existential” and negative implications for loan mutual funds and exchange traded funds in its current form, according to the LSTA

LP round up: two managers terminated as 20 win $2.5 billion
US institutional investors allocated over $2.5 billion to 20 credit managers in October, according to documents seen by Creditflux. Two credit fund managers however were terminated in the month

Cairn begins "new chapter" as it rebrands to Polus
Cairn Capital has been renamed Polus Capital Management, which brings it together with Bybrook Capital, the credit asset manager it acquired in 2021.  

Fund performance: Wake us up when September ends
After a resurgent August, credit markets hit a rough patch in September, with every Creditflux index posting negative returns, and only 12.9% of funds in our listings showing a positive return.

What matters is what you do with it
CLO managers yearn for flexibility so they can take advantage when credit sells off. But it isn’t enough on its own: triple C-flex CLOs saw portfolios erode this year, while CBOs outperformed