All’s well that ends well in 2020 OC tests

Moody's considers upgrading 188 US CLO tranches
Moody's has put 188 CLO tranches from 114 US CLOs on review for possible upgrade, reversing an earlier policy in which the agency put large quantities of CLO notes on downgrade watch

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

European CLOs will perform well in 2021 but expect new deal quality drop, says Moody's
In a report published today, rating agency Moody's said CLOs will continue to perform due to credit enhancement levels and despite rising defaults. But CLO portfolio overlaps look set to increase 

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

York axes European hedge funds and prioritises long duration assets as co-CIO leaves
York Capital Management has opted to axe its European hedge fund strategies and refocus on alternatives including CLOs amid a string of executive personnel changes

OC health check: 41 CLOs heal their breaches
147 CLOs breached an over-collateralisation test in October, down from 183 in September. 41 CLOs that breached an OC test in September passed all OC tests in October, most of which had October payment dates

Eagle Point bulks up on CLO equity
Eagle Point Credit Company deployed $35.1 million of its capital into CLO equity investments in the third quarter, buying $8.4 million in the secondary market and the remainder in primary, while selling just $4.8 million

Correction: JP Morgan shifts bulk of CLO portfolio to held to maturity
JP Morgan has shifted two thirds of its CLO portfolio to the 'held to maturity' part of its balance sheet, posting $31.15 billion worth of CLO holdings on 30 September of which $20.95 billion were held to maturity

Skybridge looks to cut structured credit and distressed debt exposure
SkyBridge Capital, the fund of hedge funds manager run by ex-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, is set to curb the structured credit and distressed corporate debt exposure in its SkyBridge G II Fund

IG and crossover indices converge while European CLO double Bs rally
iTraxx Crossover is again outperforming Main today with the investment grade index widening 0.11bp to 52.56bp while the crossover index is 2.42bp tighter to 296.99bp. Meanwhile bank research signals that junior CLO tranches could benefit as investors look at covid industries through a different lense 

Relative value has shifted towards CLO double Bs, conference hears
CLO double B tranches are on course for significant spread tightening, according to participants on day one of Creditflux's CLO Investor Summit on Thursday

European CLO double Bs jump wider amid October macro worries - but seniors stand firm
The fortunes of investment grade and high yielding European CLO tranches have gone in opposite directions in the last month. In a year where relative value has shifted several times, Creditflux analysis shows that new issue European CLO double Bs have blown out by 16.5% in October versus September, while triple A-rated notes have tightened 6.7% in that time

Fed again warns of CLO risks as senior and junior spreads split
The Federal Reserve's latest financial stability report again warns of risks in CLO structures amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic

Skews flip in Europe after IG credit indices lead rally
Credit spreads are budging wider this morning after a relentless rally this week which culminated in iTraxx Main tightening 4.2bp (7.2%) and iTraxx Crossover tightening 18.8bp (5.54%) at the close yesterday

Chin up – it’s been a pretty good effort
CLO managers did well to survive the covid-19 crash in loan valuations — but they failed to fully capitalise on the ensuing volatility, say participants in the Creditflux CLO Census 2020

Elements work against CLO managers in Q3
CLO equity distributions fell in Q3 largely due to factors, such as Libor mismatches, that CLO managers can’t control. But these headwinds could turn in favour of managers in the near future

Less credit volatility expected in Q4 despite US election fallout
CLO issuance was expectedly low in the final week of October in the run-up to the US election, as issuers brace for what has historically been a volatility-inducing macro-event. But prominent market participants say the unprecedented economic backdrop resulting from the pandemic means the outcome of the 2020 election is less likely to move the dial as much as in cycles past

Credit rally slows but structured finance funds gain
Corporate credit spreads levelled off in September, which means that 63% of funds in the Creditflux database have just a single quarter left to make it to positive returns for the calendar year.  

Fund performance: Structured finance finds its footing with credit rally
For the first time this year we have seen a structured finance fund take the top spot, as Serone Key Opportunities Fund leads a multitude of other funds in this category in the top 10 of our monthly fund rankings

Ucits at a glance: European funds and CLOs head rankings
Ucits fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (November 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Credit hedge funds (November 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Ares holds €6.97 billion first close on European direct lending fund
Ares Management Group has collected $12 billion in gross credit commitments over the third quarter of the year, according to the firm’s earnings presentation, including $8.2 billion for the first closing of its fifth European direct lending fund

CLO Census results: Citi comes out top but several banks make big leaps
Citi has been voted top in five out of the eight primary CLO categories as part of the 2020 Creditflux CLO Census, but BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Natixis are among the banks that have made huge strides compared to last year