Fair Oaks suspends dividends from listed CLO fund citing covid-19 uncertainty
Fair Oaks Capital has suspended dividends on its listed CLO fund “in light of the ongoing uncertainty in economies and markets caused by covid-19 pandemic”, according to an update to investors in the $315 million fund

Global CLO b-wic round-up: CLO triple As recover but mezz left behind
The CLO secondary market was a tale of two halves last week. 100% of all bonds listed in b-wics on Monday and Tuesday had no covers released (either traded or did not trade), but the end of the week was a different story for both markets

Investors query loan b-wic objectives as trade rates plummet
Over €1 billion worth of loan paper has appeared in the form of European loan b-wics in March, according to market sources. But buyer appetite has been low

Credit markets rally, but hopes rest on US stimulus vote
Credit spreads are rallying back today, along with other financial markets, as hopes rise the US congress will agree a massive fiscal stimulus package and other governments in major economies echo a "whatever it takes" line to combat the coronavirus outbreak

Credit traders' kickstand: rolling with the pain, as relative value trades come unstuck
What a difference a month - and a pandemic - make. This time in February, no-one could have imagined a global financial crisis would be unfolding, that credit performance would be a battle between a virus and some of the biggest government and central bank interventions on record, that today's iTraxx Europe and CDX index rolls would traverse unprecedented ranges, that option expiry strikes would be blown beyond recognition, or that cash and CDS differentials would be whipsawing with such violence

Ellington sells large chunk of assets from European CLO warehouse
Ellington Management sold €69.5 million from its CLO warehouse on a b-wic dated 12 March, according to market sources

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. 

Credit traders' kickstand: this is not a drill
Freefall in financial markets has brought one of the credit market’s most volatile sessions on record, as coronavirus cases globally near 100,000 and the WHO has warned governments are not doing nearly enough. iTraxx Crossover one-day volatility is up with the 2008 global financial crisis and 2011 European sovereign crisis

IHS Markit mulls CDX EM growth and iTraxx ESG screen
Increasing the portfolio size of CDX EM and consulting on an ethically-screened version of iTraxx Europe are among the projects index administrator IHS Markit has been working on ahead of the 20 March roll.

Euro CLO league tables: Carlyle doubles down in February as 2019's leaders look on
Carlyle Group has jumped to the top of the European CLO manager league tables after bringing two deals to the market in February

Global CLO league tables - February 2020 YTD
Global CLO league tables - February 2020 YTD

Credit traders’ kickstand: a year comes undone in a week as world faces coronavirus moment of truth
As the coronavirus outbreak reaches a 'decisive point', according to the World Health Organisation, one of most volatile weeks in recent memory has hauled credit spreads from their post-financial crisis tights to much wider levels last seen in the first half of 2019 and, in the case of emerging markets, more than a year ago.

Crossover hits widest print since September, 70bp back from the tights
iTraxx Crossover has surged 19bp wider today, according to IHS Markit, in a sixth successive session of coronavirus driven sell-off that takes the index to 273bp – 70bp wide of the post-crisis tight print it reached in early January

Back from the dead: CLO risk retention resurfaces in the US
Risk retention is making an unexpected comeback in the US CLO market as more managers look to structure their deals to comply with European risk retention regulations

Bloodbath in primary as credit bleeds months of profit
Some primary market bond issues that investors lapped up in the heady weeks of January are being put to the sword as February ends, while the coronavirus-led downturn in credit has squandered several months of gains in the CDS market

KKR beats CIFC's European CLO benchmark one day later
KKR Credit brought new issue CLO Avoca XXI via Bank of America last night and in doing so, set a new triple A spread benchmark for European CLO managers of 89bp and a cost of debt of 164.5bp

CIFC pushes European CLO spreads to new tights
CIFC Asset Management’s second CLO in the European market, CIFC European Funding CLO II, has set a new benchmark for the year as triple A spreads move tighter to 90bp with a cost of debt of 165.6bp.

CDS takes brunt of coronavirus panic sell-off
European credit derivatives are among the hardest hit assets today amid a broad sell-off, as the fast spread of the coronavirus into Italy, Korea and Iran has brought a reappraisal of the impact it could have on financial markets

Credit traders’ kickstand: weaker mood, but primary drive strengthens
The primary market for high yield bonds is open again, after a pause around the US holiday on Monday, with issues in Europe today from the likes of SIlgan and Catalent striking a bullish tone and setting the scene for an expected flurry of deals next week. But this comes as credit generally weakens, with concerns about the spread and reappraisal of coronavirus cases causing spreads to push back from their recent tights

Lord Abbett preps floating rate interval fund with monthly share repurchase
Lord Abbett Enhanced Floating Rate Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in floating rate products including senior secured or unsecured loans, second lien debt and floating rate structured credit including CLOs

Sacramento pension earmarks $150 million for private credit in 2020
The pension fund expects to commit to two direct lending funds and one credit fund it describes as 'opportunistic'

Global CLO b-wic round-up: that's another fine mezz you've gotten me into
European CLO investors are tripping over themselves to buy mezzanine paper in the secondary CLO market

CLO pipeline: new loves kindle as managers finish with old flames
US new issue CLO paper is back on the agenda after a January dominated by refinancings. 14 new deals are in the pipeline, but refis are holding steady with eight of these in the works. CLO refinancings have been the front runners this year, with 22 CLO refis versus 12 new US CLOs. 

European unitranche deal flow increased 11% last year, finds GCA
European direct lending unitranche deals completed in 2019 increased by 11%, according to GCA Altum's Q4 2019 MidCap Monitor, marking a record year for the industry 

Partners markets US CLO as it aims to become second transatlantic issuer of 2020
Partners Group is on course to become the second CLO manager this year to price new issue deals on either side of the Atlantic