Beneath the triple C: downgrades hold steady as Travelport loses its luggage
For the second month in a row downgrades to triple C steadied, with just under $9 billion of CLO loans falling to this rating across 34 corporate borrowers

Creditflux announces finalists for Manager of the Year award
Ahead of the virtual awards ceremony on 15 July Creditflux is thrilled to announce the four finalists for the prestigious Manager of the Year category.

OC health check: CLOs heal up with no new breaches among US BSL deals
53 CLOs reported an over-collateralisation (OC) test breach last week, but only two CLOs breached an OC test for the first time, neither of which were US broadly syndicated loan CLOs

Fund performance: CLO funds keep up the momentum for second month running
May returns have been led by continued momentum from CLO funds. In the last month, funds that invest in CLO notes in some capacity have made up 90% of our top 10, while 97% of funds listed generated positive returns - an improvement of 15% on last month's figures.

Ucits at a glance: Ucits recover lost ground
The foot has come off the gas for many funds - 57% of funds did not break the 2% return barrier.

US and Europe diverge as loan trading bands emerge on the continent
Europe and the US are on different courses with credit indices having drifted apart over the past month, say trading sources. Europe is expected to suffer fewer defaults to the extent that "it’s getting quite difficult for borrowers to default”, as one source put it. But the US has "higher growth potential due to its more dynamic economy"

OC health check: slowing of downgrades offers some reprieve for CLOs stuck in breach
89 deals reported overcollateralisation breaches last week, but only seven of these deals were breaching any OC test for the first time, according to the latest reports available on CLO-i

Fair Oaks tops up on double B CLO tranches in May
Fair Oaks topped up on double B-rated CLO tranches in its listed CLO fund in May, adding $79 million par value of BB-rated paper

Beneath the triple C: downgrade rate slows as $8 billion of CLO loans tumble
May offered some respite to CLO portfolios as corporate downgrades to triple C were reduced heavily - affecting just $6.67 billion of US CLO paper and €1.09 billion of European CLO portfolios

OC health check: second European 2.0 CLO reports junior OC breach
33 deals reported overcollateralisation (OC) breaches last week in a relatively quiet reporting period.  314 deals are now reporting OC breaches as of the latest report, according to CLO-i.

Pandemic underlines importance of the S in ESG as compliant companies outperform
For years, assessing environmental risks has been at the forefront of ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing, but there’s been a greater appreciation of the ‘S’ in ESG since the market sell-off in March

Some managers calculated their CLOs were passing OC tests, only to find them failing the next day
Corporate credit downgrade storms have been weathered before, but this one has come out of season

OC health check: some CLOs cure failures, but quarter of US deals still in breach
117 deals failed over-collateralisation tests in the last week, although only 46 of these were deals reporting breaches for the first time, according to the latest reports available on CLO-i

There will surely be jewels in the high yield dung heap, but the risk-reward is more compelling in IG
Whatever the long-term effects of the pandemic, one thing stays the same: IG looks attractive

Denominator effect expected to drive LP-led private debt secondaries
Institutional investors are expected to engage in rebalancing trades to counter the 'denonimator effect', a move that should lead to an increase in private debt secondary trades

Black Diamond multi-currency CLO looks to buy back senior debt at 98.75%
Black Diamond CLO 2015-1 is voluntarily offering to pay down its senior debt

Basis and capital structure strategies zing for Xaia as market anomalies multiply
April was another challenging month for most funds. But some managers were able to take advantage of relative value opportunities and growing investor appetite for this form of investment strategy

US and Europe diverge on credit spreads and more
US and European corporate credit performance has diverged since cities went into lockdown in March, with Europe tending to do better. But the CLO market gives a different picture, with 17 US transactions pricing to four in Europe since 1 April, and with tighter investment grade spreads

Index equity tranches show resilience in face of default spike
Lower credit index volatility in May refocused investor minds on idiosyncratic risk, with some give-up by previously outperforming equity tranches

CLOs face trading restrictions as bankruptcies mount
CLO managers could be handcuffed in impending bankruptcies if tranche downgrades continue and restricted trading periods kick in

They said it: There will be a re-tiering of managers after this
"There will be a re-tiering of managers after this"

Libor fall weighs heavily on loan and CLO portfolios
Libor floors are set to return to prominence after three-month rates tumbled to 0.38% by 18 May, returning the loan market’s base rate to its lowest level since the oil and gas crisis of 2014-16

Cure contributions come into play in CLOs amid pandemic
Some CLO investors are triggering a mechanism in their deals that lets them inject additional equity into structures to prevent them from failing over-collateralisation or interest coverage tests

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

Fund performance: CLO tranches move up
April returns managed a partial bounce back after a tumultuous March. 82% of funds listed in the Creditflux database made positive returns, showing at least small signs of recovery after 90% of all funds listed posted negative returns in March