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 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

Global 2020 CLO league tables
Global 2020 CLO league tables 

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

CLO 2021 outlook: back to the 'old' normal with volumes, spreads and structures to revert to pre-covid levels
Predictions went out the window this year because, well, who in December 2019 could have foreseen a pandemic devastating lives and wrecking financial markets? But the emergence of vaccines to combat the threat of the coronavirus has spurred a rally in credit over the last month. And CLO researchers expect a resurgence in 2021 with US new issue CLO volumes predicted to hit the $80-110 billion range, according to reports analysed by Creditflux.

Fund performance: CLOs look to continue recovery with end of the year in sight
CLO funds claim the majority of positions in our top 10

LP round up: pensions plan private credit pacing as strategic credit takes on "midfield" role
US pensions have allocated $1.4 billion across 22 credit funds including those managed by Angelo Gordon, Ares and GoldenTree, according to recent board documents seen by Creditflux. Meanwhile a pension fund draws parallels between strategic credit and Jordan Henderson

Global CLO b-wic round-up: junior tranches trade above par as US volumes reach $45bn
A busy week of over $1.4 billion of US CLO secondary bonds and €290 million of European CLO paper gave light to CLO spreads across the capital structure continuing their push towards pre-covid levels

It's all relative: Euro CLO mezz rallies to follow month-long IG/HY compression
European credit suffered this week with Brexit talks between the UK and the EU dragging on and both sides conceding that a trade deal is unlikely to be reached by Sunday’s deadline. But European CLO tranches have held up reasonably well with mezzanine spreads tightening by almost 13% in December

Credit sell off gathers pace ahead of Brexit crunch day
With both sides in the EU-UK negotiations conceding that trade talks are most likely to conclude on Sunday without an agreement, credit is again a big underperformer today as more longs cut and run while hedging picks up

BlueCrest settles SEC charges of favouring internal fund over client capital
BlueCrest Capital Management has agreed to pay $170 million to settle charges related to a fund that managed internal capital

400 holds $430 million final close on opportunistic structured credit fund
400 Asset Based Term Fund II will invest across structured credit including special situations, risk-transfers, and liquidity premium opportunities in the primary and secondary markets

Global CLO league tables - November 2020 YTD
Global CLO league tables - November 2020 YTD

Europe leads corporate credit rally, but US outperforms in CLOs
iTraxx Crossover has been the CDS market's outperformer this week, tightening over 30 basis points, or 11.4%, to trade at 235bp today. But in the CLO market, US deals have come out on top thanks to a BlackRock CLO that priced its double Bs at some of the tightest levels this year

ECB stimulus hopes bolster high yield outperformance
Spread compression has picked up again, with European high yield taking the lead as expectations mount for another round of European Central Bank stimulus at its meeting next week

Credit fundraising: November marks turning point as fund launches spike
November was always set to be an important month as the world awaited the US election outcome and the results of covid-19 vaccine trials. This did nothing to slow down fund managers as 14 funds launched, up from only four funds launching in September and five in October

Spread compression resumes with US passing key milestones
Credit markets have resumed their crunch tighter today, with an absence of any obviously negative brakes to offset strengthening Asian industrial numbers and applications by vaccine makers for emergency approval in the US and Europe

Bulls give up some gains as IG banks and energy lead market wider
In a cautious opening to the week, credit spreads are edging wider against a backdrop of faltering oil prices but marginally strengthened stocks

Compression plays out as HY and European CLO double Bs outperform
Investment grade and high yield credit spreads have tightened in sync with each other this week, but CDS and CLOs alike underline that the big theme over the past month has been compression between investment grade and high yield

Europe keeps to the grind with wide-end driving improvement
Credit exhibits a firm tone as the week draws to a close, with index spreads grinding back towards their tights despite a mixed picture for oil prices and much of the US market away after the thanksgiving holiday

CLO pipeline: LCM switches arranger to complete deal and join issuance surge
Over $3.5 billion of global CLO issuance priced last week and managers in all three CLO markets are taking advantage of tightening spreads across the capital structure after three major covid-19 vaccine breakthroughs and increased confidence since the US presidential election