US sponsor-led loans show sharp deterioration in covenant quality
Credit underwriting standards in the US continued to fall in the second quarter of 2023, according to a new special report from Xtract Research.

Secondary CLO prices continued to rise across June
US BWIC secondary prices continued to rise in June, according to a report by KopenTech. 

New IACPM survey points to a global recession
Respondents to the latest IACPM Credit Outlook Survey overwhelmingly expect global economies to fall into recession either later this year or sometime in 2024.

June 2023 US Leveraged Highlights
Debtwire has released the June 2023 US Leveraged Highlights, featuring key trends in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets.

High yield bond index offers opportunities for credit pickers
The global high yield bond market has become a skewed barbell offering benefits to credit pickers, according to a new research note from global asset manager Ninety One. 

Question your assumptions
Valuing CLO paper is complicated, and loan prepayments are one of the trickiest parts. When pricing a new issue CLO, the market generally assumes that 15-20% of loans will prepay their principal annually. This prepayment rate is important because it essentially determines the pace at which a CLO’s rated debt is paid off after the reinvestment period, when the CLO pays down its own principal.

Slow pace of loan prepayments increasing CLO tranche WAL, finds Barclays
Prepayment rates in the leveraged loan market have dropped to post-financial crisis lows, thereby increasing CLO debt tranches' weighted average life and slowing the pace of amortization for deals that have left reinvestment, according to new research published by Barclays

Do amend and extends now before big chunk of CLOs exit reinvestment, says BofA
Research analysts at Bank of America are recommending CLO managers complete amend and extend activity before a wave of transactions exit their reinvestment periods later in the year

34% of CLOs rated by Fitch out of reinvestment
34% of the CLOs rated by Fitch Ratings have left their reinvestment periods including six deals that exited in May, the rating agency said in a note to clients on Thursday

Student loans emerge as headwind for loan market, says BofA
American graduates are poised to resume student loan repayments in August, and new research from Bank of America suggests the change could be a headwind for the loan market due to weaker consumer demand.

More than 45% of Euro CLOs to be out of RP by Q1 2024, Fitch says
More than 45% of Fitch-rated reinvesting European CLOs are anticipated to be out of their reinvestment period by the end of Q1 2024, up from around a third as of April, which could lead to rating pressure for mezzanine tranches in those deals

CLOs are our highest-conviction investment category, says Oaktree
Oaktree Capital Management has said that CLOs are the firm's 'highest-conviction investment category' in a credit market outlook study published on Thursday, despite the recent turbulence stemming from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

Euro CLO exposure to financial sector 'limited', say Fitch
European CLO exposure to the financial sector is 'limited' and CLO ratings will not be impacted by UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse, according to new data from Fitch Ratings

Loan trading within European CLOs drops to 0.6%: BofA
European CLO manager trading activity declined sharply this year amid less leveraged loan primary supply and declining secondary liquidity, according to Bank of America research

Investors should pair short CLO triple As with long MBS for best returns, says Janus Henderson
Senior figures at Janus Henderson Investors have recommended that credit investors should pair short duration CLO triple As with longer duration mortgage backed securities to optimise their returns, in a research article published on Tuesday

Five issuers account for 22% of Euro CLO triple Cs: BofA
22% of triple C-rated debt in European CLOs originates from just five issuers, according to analysis from Bank of America research this morning

CLOs cheap to corporates but expensive to agency MBS, says BofA
CLO bonds are currently pricing cheap relative to corporates but look expensive relative to agency MBS bonds, according to new research from Bank of America

CLO bond buckets balloon post-Volcker amendments, says BofA
CLO holdings of bonds in their portfolios has grown to $15 billion in the two years since changes to the Volcker rule allowed CLOs to hold the assets, according to new research from Bank of America

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

US and European CLO metrics diverge, finds Barclays
CLO spreads saw a month-on-month move wider in December while key portfolio metrics such as weighted average rating factor (warf) and triple C buckets deteriorated in the US. However, European portfolio metrics showed some improvement 

CLO triple A tiering grew to 48bp by December, says PennMutual
The triple A spread differential between top and lower tier CLO managers widened to 48 basis points by the end of 2022 from just 18bp at the start of the year, according to new research published by PennMutual Asset Management

Largarde snowballs puncture complacent calm and shocks spreads wider
Credit markets are ending the week on a big push wider, after European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde delivered the surprise that had been missing from other central bank messaging

US CLO investors express cautious optimism for 2023
After a turbulent year in 2022, US CLO investors are sounding a cautiously bullish tone heading into 2023

BofA withdraws forecast for US banks to return to CLO investing en masse in 2023
Bank of America has withdrawn its forecast that US banks will make any signficant return to investing in CLOs in 2023 following comments from the Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision suggesting that capital requirements could increase further next year

Major fund withdrawals undermine credit momentum
Credit funds are extending their run of inflows into the end of the year, but investment grade momentum took a dent last week due to investors in one big fund pulling their money