Cessation of activity mid-December is an opportunity to switch off… and let the mind wander
Welshcake is grateful for a lull in credit markets. The downtime has inspired him to dream up a CLO play

GSO co-founder Bennett launches minority GP-stake business
GSO Capital Partners co-founder Bennett Goodman (the “G” in GSO) has teamed with Mike Arpey, Avshalom Kalichstein and Rex Chung to launch a new GP stakes investing business

[update] Beneath the triple C: theme parks take portfolios on downward ride
Seven corporate debt issuers were downgraded to triple C or below in September by Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s – hurting $2.16 billion of US CLO loans and €1.16 billion of European CLO portfolio. The pace of CLO loan downgrades to triple C has slowed steadily since the peak in April

LP round up: Connecticut eyes Fortress for private credit partnership
Investors placed $3.3 billion across 26 credit mandates over the past fortnight, according to documents seen by Creditflux 

Beneath the triple C: CLOs get their sneakers on as retailers run into bankruptcy
July added further relief to CLO portfolios with the slowest rate of downgrades to triple C since March. US CLO portfolios faced downgrades of $2.18 billion to triple C while European portfolios faced just €59.13 million of such downgrades

LP round up: Oregon eyes $1.8 billion into structured credit
Institutional investors have earmarked over $6 billion to credit funds over the past two weeks

LP round up: managers keep fundraising hopes high as GSO targets $7.5 billion for mezz offering
Institutional investors allocated $1.6 billion into credit this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

LP round-up: mighty Oaks win $1 billion apiece from Calpers
Credit investors allocated over $3 billion to 18 credit managers this week across a wide range of strategies

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

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

Credit pickers need luck to avoid OC trap
We know what you’re thinking: is my CLO failing its OC test? The truth is, in all this volatility, it can be hard to keep track, unless your deal has high quality liquid loans

 

Pimco promotes European HY head to global head of loans
Pimco has promoted David Forgash to head of global leveraged loans and has appointed ex-Deutsche Bank official Roman Kogan to its European commercial real estate team 

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).

Fitch puts European and US CLO notes on negative watch after coronavirus stress test
Fitch Ratings has placed six notes from one European CLO, one US static CLO and one US middle market CLO on negative watch, following coronavirus-related stress tests placed last week 

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. 

Fed cut triggers Libor floors on third of US loans
Roughly a third of US loans effectively became fixed rate investments this week as Libor edged below 1% for the first time since January 2017

Lord Abbett preps floating rate interval fund with monthly share repurchase
Lord Abbett Enhanced Floating Rate Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in floating rate products including senior secured or unsecured loans, second lien debt and floating rate structured credit including CLOs

Licence and registration: loan spreads get speeding ticket as CLOs play catch-up
The sharp rally in corporate credit means that CLO spreads are going to have to rapidly follow suit with investors informing Creditflux that US CLO triple As should be pricing at 105-107 basis points to make deal economics work. 

CLOs wrestle back control of the European loan market
The share of European loans bought by CLOs is now larger than those acquired by loan managed accounts and hedge funds, according to a research paper by Barclays.

Distressed loans get IHS Markit workover as tech service aims to cut settlement times
IHS Markit is unveiling an electronic solution through its ClearPar platform aimed at simplifying trade settlement for distressed leveraged loans, an area that has greatly lagged efficiency in the par loans market    

CLO supply set for double-digit drop in 2020, says JP Morgan
US CLO supply in 2020 will be as much as 20% down on 2019, while European issuance will fall 13% year-on-year, predict JP Morgan strategists in a research note. Even so, new CLOs should still outpace existing deal paydowns, as well as high yield primary market net new issuance

THL updates credit investment framework to include ESG
THL Credit Advisors has announced that it has developed an investment framework for assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in analysing credit quality and risk factors

EQT looks to raise €500 million via IPO
The initial public offering is anticipated to increase EQT's flexbility to “pursue growth opportunities” and expand its private market investing business

Credit plays a big part as KKR increases AUM by $6.5 billion
KKR grew its assets under management by 8% over the second quarter, according to the firm’s earnings call, which took place on Thursday.

Calpers misses returns target despite fixed income outperformance
California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) has missed its annual investment target despite strong performance from its fixed income portfolio, which was its top performer