Robots rise for credit ratings
A fintech platform is launching this month that aims to use artificial intelligence to democratise credit ratings.

Go long index mezz tranches to pick up spread: Citi
Citi research has outlined some of the opportunities that have arisen in the index tranche market as a result of elevated correlation

Private debt secondaries volume nosedives 81% in H1
Global private debt fund secondaries volume nosedived 81.8% during the first half of 2020 as the effects of coronavirus began to surface, according to a recently released report by Setter Capital

Governance has greatest impact on short-term changes in company valuation out of ESG factors, finds MSCI
Governance has more impact than environmental and social factors on company financial fundamentals and stock price in the short term, but ‘E’ and ‘S’ play their part over the long term, according to analysis from MSCI

Leveraged loan spreads to widen to March levels, warn UBS strategists
US leveraged loan spreads could widen back to March levels of 825 basis points as default risk increases, according to strategists at UBS.

Investors increasingly see ESG as fiduciary duty, State Street survey reveals
North American investors are most likely to view ESG as a fiduciary duty, while European investors are driven by regulation, performance and reputational risk, according to results from a survey conducted by State Street Global Advisors

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

Diverging views emerge over performance of ESG investing, RBC survey reveals
Investors which incorporate ESG principles are convinced it adds value, but those who do not are more uncertain, according to a survey by RBC Global Asset Management 

Boeing/Airbus dogfight widens spreads as WTO ruling exposes Europe's trade weaknesses
The World Trade Organisation’s go-ahead for the US to impose $7.5 billion of tariffs on imports from the EU has sent credit spreads sharply wider. And, according to latest credit research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, it exposes Europe’s “Achilles heel”

Political risk puts December in focus as CDS investors play index volatility
Selling implied volatility has been prominent among CDS investors since last month’s iTraxx and CDX index rolls, says BNP Paribas in a research piece, with December a popular point of focus for trades

Direct lending challenges in 2019: competition, lack of quality assets and high transaction multiples
Results from Proskauer Rose's survey show these are not putting off 75% of respondents, who are fundraising for a debt fund

Triple B fightback has begun, says BNP Paribas
Fallen angel risk – the possibility that a wave of triple B credits could be cut by rating agencies to sub-investment grade – should begin to decline, according to strategists at BNP Paribas

Direct lenders pile into "turbocharged" market as fundraising skyrockets: report
Growth in the direct lending market in the 12 months to 31 December was “turbocharged,” growing robustly in the fourth quarter 2017 in particular due to a consistently growing Eurozone economy, according to Deloitte

Private debt performance shines in institutional investing study
A quarter of institutional investors say private debt outperformed their expectations over 12 months to 28 August 2017