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

Ucits at a glance: Ucits begin recovery phase
April returns prove positive for Ucits funds as 85% of those listed in the Creditflux database have moved into the black after a rough March

Early March European CLO makes it through the sell off with 5.4% risk retention
One of the last European CLOs to price before the primary market shut down in March has disclosed the fair value of its notes post-closing, which shows that it has a reasonable 38 basis point cushion against risk retention deficiency

European CLO cushions fall with junior OC breaches expected soon, Fitch says
European CLOs have fared better against downgrades versus their US counterparts. But Fitch Ratings writes in a report that over-collateralisation (OC) cushions have been sharply declining with junior OC tests expected to be breached soon

Banks report billions in unrealised CLO losses
Some of the world's largest bank buyers of CLO tranches reported billions of dollars of gross unrealised losses in their their latest quarterly reports

Investcorp launches Italian NPL fund
Investcorp has raised €340 million for an Italian non-performing loan (NPL) fund, following a similar strategy to a 2017 fund

Fitch takes action on 29 European CLO tranches
Fitch Ratings took action on 29 European CLO tranches yesterday, placing the majority of these on rating watch negative

Fair Oaks spends on junior European CLO debt after raising funds
Fair Oaks Capital has invested $92 million in junior CLO debt tranches since the start of April after putting to work fresh commitments to CLO investment fund Fair Oaks Limited

Lupus Alpha CLO funds enter April top 10 after cutting triple B exposure in January
Lupus Alpha CLO High Grade Invest Fund, a Ucits fund managed by Lupus Alpha, topped the Creditflux April hedge fund rankings with 12.05% returns. The Frankfurt-based manager also has two other funds in the top 10 rankings: Lupus Alpha CLO High Quality Invest (9.88%) and Lupus Alpha CLO Opportunity Notes I (8.94%)

CLOs seek ways to work around warf restrictions
Corporate downgrades leading to par haircuts in CLOs have been a primary focus for CLO investors since the start of the coronavirus-induced crisis. But one of the side effects of rating actions has been a rise in weighted average rating factor test failures

Apollo and Barings defer equity payments on long-dated CLOs
Apollo Global Management and Barings have joined PGIM in deferring their scheduled April payment dates for a handful of European CLOs, according to the latest payment reports on CLO-i. Apollo also deferred payments on several of its US CLOs.

Listed CLO fund rebounds in April with 5.7% gain
US and European CLO equity tranches brought in gains of 10% in April for the fund, US CLO debt 12.1%, ABS 0.6% and bank balance sheet transactions 0.3%

Listed CLO fund declares May dividend after equity avoids cashflow diversion
Axa Investment Management has declared an interim dividend on its listed CLO fund, Volta Finance, after cancelling its April dividend citing the uncertainty of cash flow payments

PGIM defers April European CLO equity payments
PGIM has deferred scheduled April payments to equity investors of its European CLOs, the first European CLO manager to defer a payment date during the coronavirus pandemic

Beneath the triple C: April showers send buckets overboard
Downgrade waves rocked the CLO market in April as Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded 135 corporate borrowers to triple C or below, from ratings above that level. The downgrades put CLOs in rough waters as $41.6 billion of such loans are prevalent in US CLOs while €5.64 are moored in European CLO portfolios – affecting 5.92% of the US market and 4.37% of the European market

Where are the gloating I-told-you-so columnists who claimed CLOs would bring global destruction?
We have seen a measured response to the coronavirus crisis: fund managers aren’t collapsing and investors are not shunning CLOs

Sculptor doubles global credit exposure in master fund amid dislocation
Sculptor Capital Management has doubled its global credit exposure in its Master Fund during the covid-19 volatility, according to the firm’s Q1 earnings call

CSOs are hurting but will emerge stronger, say sources
It is unsurprising that bespoke synthetic tranches have suffered during the covid-19 crisis, as they are backed largely by real money investors that have gone outright long credit risk. But more noteworthy and reassuring, say sources, is that most have held firm in their positions and look set to stick with the asset class — in contrast to the 2008 global financial crisis exodus

Waiting game pays off for European pension fund
Finnish pension fund Ilmarinen has been investing more in European CLO tranches after valuations dipped to their lowest levels in a decade, thanks to a distressed CLO fund strategy it put in place two years ago.