Beneath the triple C: $31.6 billion of CLO credits feel downgrade pain
March madness took a toll on CLOs as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded 4.25% of the portfolios in the US and 1.84% in Europe to triple C or below in just one month (some of these were already triple C rated, only to fall further).

Pretium adds Pimco official as it expands business development with string of hires
Pretium Partners has made several hires to its business development and data teams including a new business development co-head from Pimco

S&P puts 48 triple C-heavy CLOs on negative watch
A spike in loan assets rated triple C as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has led S&P Ratings to put 48 CLO tranches on negative watch

S&P adds to CLO negative watch list as loan downgrades pick up
Standard & Poor’s has added to the list of tranches in CLOs it has on negative watch as coronavirus concerns mount. This follows the rating agency last week highlighting 22 tranches across 15 US CLOs for having big exposure to downgraded corporate borrowers across impacted industry sectors

CLO trading head leaves job to rejoin Macquarie
Macquarie has rehired a former member of its asset management unit as an associate director focused on principal trading of CLOs, ABS and other structured credit products

S&P puts US CLOs on negative watch including seven failing triple C test
Standard and Poor’s put focus on the recent volatility by placing tranches in 15 US CLOs on a negative watch for having large exposures to energy related sectors such as oil and gas, consumable fuels and commodities. In total, 25 tranches have been affected by this.

Credit traders' kickstand: rolling with the pain, as relative value trades come unstuck
What a difference a month - and a pandemic - make. This time in February, no-one could have imagined a global financial crisis would be unfolding, that credit performance would be a battle between a virus and some of the biggest government and central bank interventions on record, that today's iTraxx Europe and CDX index rolls would traverse unprecedented ranges, that option expiry strikes would be blown beyond recognition, or that cash and CDS differentials would be whipsawing with such violence

CDS index rolls to proceed on time despite record volatility and lockdowns
This Friday's move into new CDS index series will go ahead as scheduled, administrator IHS Markit has said, having sought advice on whether to postpone the roll date due to coronavirus-led market volatility

Credit hits new wides as US and Europe ramp up coronavirus battle plans
An emergency weekend rate cut by the US Federal Reserve as well as population lockdowns in France and Spain underscore that measures of economic risk have moved to a more systemic level as world governments scramble to deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak

Credit traders’ kickstand: roll nightmares haunt CDS market as indices whiplash
It’s Friday 13^th, but CDS traders will be hoping the worst of the horror shows are behind them as they try to regather their shredded nerves in time for next week’s biannual index rolls

Curve inversion for airlines and freight as Trump travel ban sparks sell-off
Airlines, travel firms and shipping companies are among some of the credits hit hardest by US president Donald Trump’s imposition of a ban on travel from mainland Europe, a move that sent the iTraxx Crossover index back to its widest level since October 2012

Beneath the triple C: mighty CLO buckets from Akorns grow
Rating agencies went on a downgrading spree in February, with Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s cutting 20 corporate names to triple C or below – affecting $2.78 billion of paper in US CLOs and €316.6 million in European CLOs. 

Credit breakdown as one-day volatility outstrips financial crisis
Credit default swap markets have surpassed the record one-day volatility of the global financial crisis, with indices surging to new wide prints as the spiralling impact of the coronavirus outbreak brings government lockdowns on travel while wreaking havoc on oil prices and supply chains

Two CLO researchers leave Nomura in New York
Two CLO researchers have departed Nomura Securities this month, Creditflux has learned

Portfolio manager returns to BlueCrest after four years
The former head of BlueCrest Capital Management's US multi-strategy credit group has returned four years after his departure from the firm

Past returns: Would-be CLO buyers turn sellers
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported that the new generation of US 2.0 CLO managers were striving to grow their CLO AUM through manager acquisitions; namely, Benefit Street Partners and Triumph Capital Advisors, the pair having issued their debut CLOs in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

US CRE CLO growth spurt encourages Europeans
The US CRE CLO market hit a record $19.2 billion in 2019 and sources say that a first ever European deal will be issued this year. They cite the growing commercial mortgage direct lending market on the continent as laying the foundations for a European CRE CLO.

CLO giant casts eye on CSOs with plans to hire credit derivatives trader
An asset manager with almost $40 billion in CLO investments is looking to hire a credit derivatives trader in Newark in a role which would include coverage of index tranches and CSOs

Global CLO b-wic round-up: equity, equity everywhere, but trading volumes sink
For the second week in a row, over $230 million of US CLO equity went on sale and multiple control equity positions were listed in the CLO secondary market

Morgan Stanley IM hires from Carlyle again as it makes direct lending "strategic priority"
The new hire rejoins former colleague Jeff Levin, who Morgan Stanley Investment Management added in February last year to establish a direct lending business as a "strategic priority"

Deutsche Bank's global CLO head moves to big US manager
The head of Deutsche Bank's global CLO business has left after working at the firm for 16 years, with sources indicating he has taken a buy-side structuring job at one of the most prolific issuers in the business

Apollo CLO and CSO specialists earn promotion to partner
Apollo Global Management has promoted two members of its global structured credit team, according to market sources

CRE CLO volume grew 40% in 2019, says Kroll, as Bridge preps first 2020 deal
$19.2 billion of CRE CLOs were issued last year - a 40% increase from 2018 figures. The first deal of 2020 is underway

If you’re worried, you should be investing in higher rated companies
Gretchen Bergstresser of CVC takes our credit quiz

Hong Kong manager bolsters team ahead of Asian private credit fund launch
Sammasan Capital has appointed former GE Capital colleague to its team as partner, as the Hong Kong-based firm prepares to launch its first Asian private credit opportunities fund