Bridgepoint buys EQT's credit business - report
Bridgepoint is buying the credit business of EQT, according to the Financial Times

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

Europe’s newcomers find ways to stand out
Last year’s new European CLO managers needed to provide something different for investors. In general, they’ve succeeded, with Capital Four having one of the smallest overlap figures in our data

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

 

Who’s got the moves Europe: CLO managers enjoy climb of Everest
The European S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan index enjoyed a strong month in April as it rose from 83 of par on 1 April to 89.2 by the end of the month. The index closed at 89.4 on 4 May to start the week 

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 

Silver lining: credit investors provided with lower entry points than Q4 2018
Oil shocks and the coronavirus outbreak, along with aftermath effects such as US Federal Reserve interventions and lockdowns, is providing credit investors with lower entry points than the Q4 2018 sell-off, say sources. Furthermore, an expected U-shaped rather than V-shaped recovery could provide a greater money multiple for opportunistic investments - if they can access them 

Ellington sells large chunk of assets from European CLO warehouse
Ellington Management sold €69.5 million from its CLO warehouse on a b-wic dated 12 March, according to market sources

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. 

Banco Sabadell joins forces with Amundi
Banco Sabadell and Amundi have announced a long-term strategic partnership, in a bid to boost fund business in Spain  

EQT undertakes strategic review of credit business
EQT has announced a review of its credit business with the firm appointing JP Morgan to evaluate its 'strategic options', according to the firm’s Q4 2019 report

Ex-CQS portfolio manager resurfaces at Axa IM
A former European leveraged loan portfolio manager who left CQS in July 2018 has resurfaced at Axa Investment Management

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.

CIFC beefs up investor relations team in London with two hires
CIFC Asset Management has hired from Muzinich and Murano in a bid to strengthen its European investor relations effort

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