Loan Highlights 3Q23: Loan volumes remain significantly lower than historical averages
Capital markets loan activity continued to struggle in the third quarter of 2023, as issuers in the Americas and Europe held off from tapping markets

US loan market rallies despite increasing stress and default rates
Casual observers of the US broadly syndicated loan market may be forgiven for feeling a little confused at the moment. Despite rising default rates and growing stress, loan prices continue to rally, and the primary pipeline is busy.

ICG taps Apollo partner as head of US liquid credit
The new head of US liquid credit has been tasked with helping grow ICG's US credit business

Fed members need to restore their credibility, which could translate into excessive tightening
Rising wages have boosted spending and GDP — but the party can’t last forever

US leveraged loan issuance drops 35% year on year
Debtwire 's new July 2023 US Leveraged Highlights report sees a striking 70% year-on-year decrease in new money institutional activity as lack of supply from the M&A market weighs on issuance

DebtDynamics North America: Likely-to-distress scores highlight struggling industries
Out of a universe of more than 12,000 leveraged US companies, 180 are in the stressed/distressed lifecycle categories

Primary loan and bond markets shows signs of revival, but at a cost
Activity in the US junk debt market has picked up after the 4th of July and the momentum is expected to continue through 2H23, but at a cost for issuers.

June loan rally signals asset class could see outsized returns as rates stay high
Leveraged loans enjoyed their second-best month of the year in June, with the asset class returning over 2% on the month as Creditflux goes to press. Loans have generated a return of 5.8% year-to-date, with only January’s 2.9% topping the numbers for June.

Loan Highlights 2Q23: Running aground
The global loan market endured a bleak first half of the year, with the overall 1H23 volume falling 28% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.9 trillion, the lowest showing since 2012.

May 2023 US Leveraged Highlights
Leveraged investors continue to favor bonds to loans, according to the Debtwire May 2023 US Leveraged Highlights, featuring key trends in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets.

Should I worry about synthetic Libor?
The date on which the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) will cease publishing the remaining available tenors of Libor is fast approaching. But initially, publication of all tenors of Libor was supposed to cease on 31 December 2021. 

US loan default rates will peak near record levels, says Deutsche Bank
A new research paper from Deutsche Bank has forecast leveraged loan default rates rising to near all-time highs by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Fitch notches up US lev loan and HY 2023 default rate forecasts
Fitch Ratings has raised its US corporate institutional high yield bond default 2023 forecasts from 3%-3.5% to 4.5%-5%, and its leveraged loan default forecast from 2.5%-3% to 4%-4.5%

FCA greenlights synthetic Libor
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has given the go-ahead for ‘synthetic Libor’ as it creates a bridge for Libor contracts that do not have any hard-wired language referencing Sofr. 

Fitch raises low end of its default forecasts for US leveraged loans and high yield
Fitch Ratings has increased the low end of its US leveraged loan and high yield default forecast ranges to reflect growing macroeconomic headwinds

Leveraged loan issuance unlikely to return in force until late 2023, conference hears
The leveraged loan primary issuance pipeline is headed for an elongated pause and primary loan activity is unlikely to return dramatically until late in 2023, attendees at IMN's ABS East conference in Miami heard on Monday

Cineworld buys ticket for DIP facility with chapter 11 filing
Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court For The Southern District Of Texas on Wednesday, less than a month after the UK-based cinema operator announced Chapter 11 was among the options it was considering to “achieve its restructuring objectives”

We can cope with downgrades again

Alcentra co-CIO for liquid credit set to leave this month
A high profile figure in the US CLO business is leaving Alcentra

WTW to tackle lack of diversity across investment industry
Progress on diversity across the investment industry is “disappointingly slow”, according to research from Willis Towers Watson

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

Frontier bankruptcy dials up pressure for 90 CLOs
Nine CLO managers hold $217 million of Frontier Communications’ debt across 90 CLOs, as the telecommunications company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York

VIP Cinema makes uncomfortable viewing for CLOs as it's reeled into Chapter 11
CLOs hold $52.9 million of debt in seatmaker VIP Cinema Holdings, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware

US loan trading: McDermott downgrade leads to CLO outflows as managers board rail road firm
US freight railroads operator Genesee & Wyoming allocated its $2.55 billion term loan in November, making it the most popular issuer in the month. And CLO managers were sceptical of the outlook for McDermott Technology - signalled by $185.9 net outflows - after Moody's downgraded its corporate family rating from B3 to Caa2 

CLOs face losses as Constellis loan drops to 28.5
32 CLO managers hold $640.4 million of Constellis Holdings’ debt, which Moody's downgraded to C after the company missed an amortisation payment due 31 December