Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

Siaci €202 million loan to leave CLOs after merger as new debt guided in low 400s
Burrus has outlined price talk on an €850 million loan backing its acquisition and merger with Siaci, a popular CLO credit

US loan managers capture secondary opportunities as new issues struggle
US loan managers switched gears by sourcing loans in the secondary market in the second quarter. This came as pricing in the primary market became less attractive in the early part of Q2 and with new loan issuance slowing in May and June

Investors proclaim ‘CLO arb is good’
Hold on to your hats: at long last market participants agree that US CLO economics are in favour of equity tranche investors

Lighten up, these are due an upgrade
CLO triple C buckets were overflowing last year, but the average exposure is now 7.3%. That is still close to trigger levels, but CLO managers are relaxed, as further loan upgrades are on the horizon

CLOs bask in 'golden period' as industry approaches $1 trillion market cap
The economic rebound following the reopening US economy has created a 'golden period' for the CLO market, market participants say

Woah, we’re halfway there
Judging by the 2020 vintage, European CLO overlap is 50%. But varied approaches to holding bonds and the many loans managers turn down mean there are ways for issuers to outperform

CLOs wheel and deal as overlap increases
2020 CLOs are a different breed to any other vintage. But this cohort features an overlap of almost 40% as CLO issuers have been forced to focus almost entirely on secondary market loans

Loan technical and supply glut keeps CLOs in check
CLO asset and liability spreads moved wider in March owing to unprec-edented volumes of issuance, despite investors rotating into floating-rate products amid rising treasury rates

CLO managers eye bonds as short-dated loan universe shrinks
European CLO managers that focus on bonds say they had flexibility in the first quarter as the new issue loan pipeline ramped up

Loan pipeline builds to fuel US CLO production into Q2
US CLO new issuance, already on a high, is set to be spurred on by a healthy loan pipeline over the second quarter of 2021

BlackRock shaves top but widens rest of stack with Euro CLO reset
BlackRock has reset a 2016 vintage CLO, pricing the triple A tranche inside the average for new issue European deals but widening lower rated tranches from where they refinanced in 2019

It's all relative: CLO spreads explore record tights as credit indices hit impasse
CLO spreads are grinding to ever tighter levels, despite a flattish week for credit in which corporate credit indices have ended up more or less unchanged

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.

The cost — a few basis points — is modest compared to the potency of bond buckets
If CLOs had bond buckets when Delta Air Lines issued debt, a manager could have bought the bond then rotated into the loan

Managers brave covid-hit sectors to drum up returns
Price dislocations among companies operating in industries affected by covid-19 mean they may offer some of the best opportunities for CLO managers and CSO investors — and sources say that neglecting these sectors could hurt performance

CLO rally keeps primary market flowing for most prolific issuers
The rally in CLO liabilities in September has given fresh impetus to the primary CLO market, which has benefitted from almost six months of favourable market dynamics

Ticked off: European loan docs turn aggressive
Documentation for European loans tightened in the immediate aftermath of the March sell-off, with lender-friendly terms around additional debt baskets, dividend levels and acquisition thresholds. But aggressive terms are creeping back into the market

Credit Rendezvous: record fiscal stimulus provides pick-me-up
Credit markets had a mini bounce-back in the second quarter as central banks poured cash into the economy. But there is great uncertainty about the effects of a second wave of coronavirus. As part of our quarterly report on credit - the Credit Rendezvous - Creditflux spoke to experts across 12 segments of the credit market

CLO managers push for deeper triple C buckets
CLO managers in the US have launched a concerted effort for greater flexibility on their triple C test limits since the coronavirus-triggered sell off in March

Loan slump brings managers closer
A 19% slide in new US loan volumes last year has left CLO managers with fewer options in the primary market, and portfolio overlap between US managers has increased to 35.3% on average

Europe’s newcomers find ways to stand out
Last year’s new European CLO managers needed to provide something different for investors. In general, they’ve succeeded, with Capital Four having one of the smallest overlap figures in our data

A different kind of crisis
Panellists on Creditflux’s US CLO webinar were positive about the robustness of CLO structures and the role of cure contributions. But they warned about zombie defaults and gaming tests

Legacy CLO warehouses brought into scope of Fed's talf programme
The US Federal Reserve has published an updated term sheet and FAQ for its term asset-backed securities loan facility programme with amendments to allow a greater scope of CLOs as eligible collateral

Four managers eye breakthrough new issue European CLOs
The European primary CLO market is showing signs of revival with four managers eyeing deals