It's all relative: senior CLO tranches tighten 18% in Europe as CDS indices sit out rally

Global CLO b-wic round-up: US lower mezz trades strong, but European piece softens
CLO investors have had no chance to catch their breath after a historic 2020 as US CLO secondary volume reached $3.3 billion and European secondary listings topped €1 billion in January

BofA restructures special situations and distressed debt trading desks
Bank of America has restructured its regional special situations and distressed debt trading teams

European CLO triple As go tighter still as KKR prints at 83bp
Triple A spreads ground tighter in January with KKR’s latest European CLO

CLO pipeline: OFS to make comeback as 2020 absentees eye new issues
As liability spreads tighten day by day, the CLO pipeline is filling fast. 2020 absentees are joining the parade as four US managers and three European managers aim to return to the new issue market after taking a break of 12 months or longer

European CLO mezz tightens as Napier Park prices
Napier Park priced its fourth European CLO today, Henley CLO IV, which has notched up the second-tightest cost of debt since March - and tightest for a deal with single B debt

Credit touches November levels as nerves fray on France and Fed
Fears of a third national lockdown in France and the risk of disappointment from Wednesday's US Federal Reserve meeting have pushed credit wider along with a sell off in stocks

OC health check: CLOs end 2020 with fragile recovery
Only 109 CLOs breached an overcollateralisation test in December, falling from 121 in November. This in turn was down from the 147 CLOs that breached an OC test in October, but 33 cured their breaches in November and a further 11 cured all OC test failures in December

Credit Rendezvous: heading for homes
Fund managers in structured credit, real assets and distressed are bullish on the prospects for residential housing in 2021. Elsewhere, niche royalty-based strategies are in favour and although a CLO repricing wave is expected, it may not be easy to execute resets. For more, read our 13-page quarterly report on credit. 

Credit funds at a glance: several funds post double digit November returns
November was a strong month for credit hedge funds listed by Creditflux, with latest returns demonstrating the effect of the vaccine/US election rally on fund perfomance

CLO pipeline: 2020 absentees join new issue rush
The CLO pipeline is growing by the minute as managers prepare their first new issues of the year after varying lengths out of the market

Fidelity steps into European CLOs with MeDirect deal
Fidelity International is breaking into European CLOs after striking a deal to acquire the CLO management team from MeDirect

US CLO manager rekindles European CLO ambitions as it launches debut 2.0
A large US CLO issuer has revived its European CLO plans, more than two years on from its failed attempt

Alcentra co-CIO for liquid credit set to leave this month
A high profile figure in the US CLO business is leaving Alcentra

UK pension seeks direct lending manager for £250 million commitment
Essex Pension Fund has issued a request for proposals to allocate up to £250 million to a direct lending fund

Europcar CDS auction shocks protection buyers with zero pay-out
Wednesay's auction to settle Europcar Mobility Group CDS has left protection buyers on the company with nothing to show for their investments and hedges, after dealers produced an unexpected 100% recovery on contracts due to a technical mismatch in bids and orders

Europcar sets course for high recovery in 2021's first credit event auction
An auction to settle CDS referencing Europcar Mobility Group has generated an initial market midpoint of 73.5 cents, implying the pay-out to protection buyers could be only 26.5 cents - much lower than five-year CDS contracts had implied

Beneath the triple C: 13 CLO loans take a dive but defaults subside to a ripple
22 corporate debt issuers were downgraded to triple C or below in November and December by Moody’s or S&P, out of which 13 can be found in CLO portfolios  – hurting $4.55 billion of US CLO loans, €1.87 billion of European CLO portfolios and almost $80 million of middle market CLOs loans, according to CLO-i

Euro CLO league tables: Killer Bs: Barclays and Blackstone cause buzz to lead new issuance
The coronavirus pandemic-induced volatility had a marked effect on the European CLO market in 2020 with total issuance falling by €18.5 billion and new issuance €7.8 billion lower than 2019’s figures

Global 2020 CLO league tables
Global 2020 CLO league tables 

Sixth Streets hits €1 billion hard cap for second European direct lending fund
Sixth Street has closed its second European direct lending fund, Sixth Street Specialty Lending Europe II, at its €1 billion hard cap

LP round-up: investors gift private debt and leveraged loan RFPs over holiday season
2020 ended on a strong note with four institutional investors increasing asset allocation to private debt or initiating private debt and leveraged loan searches. ArrowMark, Banner Ridge, BBAM, HIG Whitehorse, Monroe and Rialto were also awarded mandates

High yield has primary bonds more than Georgia on mind in third day of underperformance
European high yield credit is on a run of underperformance as the first signs of primary market bond issuance appear, with spreads widening for a third day straight against improvement in other asset classes

2020 wrap: CLO funds bloom despite rocky ground
2020 was a busy year for CLO fundraising, with Creditflux recording at least 30 funds that launched over the 12 months to invest across the CLO capital structure