Direct lending competition erases refinancing premium
Historically, new LBOs resulted in cheaper pricing, but spreads for refinancing and recapitalization deals have tightened as direct lenders face a lack of deployment opportunities

Upgrades outpace downgrades in triple C tranches of CLOs in July – BofA
Despite July's reversal, the pace of triple C downgrades remains significant, BofA said, and is expected to reach 8% for triple Cs

Private debt market fundraising shows shift to Europe – Goldman Sachs
Private credit market fundraising has been pivoting to Europe, while global defaults remain below historical averages, according to new research from Goldman Sachs

Default expectations rise as tariff threats to North America deepen – IACPM survey
Credit portfolio managers across the world see tariff-related headwinds for both the US and Canada

US CLO spreads to widen as uncertainty and tariffs bite – JPMorgan
Higher US tariff levels may lead to CLO spreads widening and pressure US CLO market growth, but new origination has been more resilient than expected, according to JPMorgan analysts in their mid-year CLO outlook report

Some LPs wary of retail capital in private market products— Edelman Smithfield
A new survey from the global financial communications advisory firm shows more than a fourth of LPs want private funds managers to keep their capital separate from retail investors

Mid-market CLO rally unlikely to endure — S&P Global
The positive start to the year has been undercut by uncertainty stemming from the Trump administration’s new tariff regime

Expanding investor base and ABL will propel private credit growth says BlackRock
The private credit asset class will continue to grow in 2025 as the underlying investor base diversifies and the definition of private credit expands to include asset-backed finance held by private lenders

Banks predict record-breaking year ahead
Consensus figures generated from outlook reports by five banks suggest 2025 will be another strong year for CLO issuance. But last year, their estimates were well below the actual numbers

Slow and steady wins the day
It’s often thought CLO managers add value to their deals via high volume trading strategies. The data shows this can be true — but on average, top performing CLOs are less actively traded

BNP Paribas sees credit upside in 2025, even amidst Trump-led unpredictability
The bank also sees CLO equity outperforming in 2025 benefiting from resilient loan fundamentals, strong cash flows, and the upside potential from reset activity

Moody’s forecasts robust economic performance underpinning continued strength in CLOs
The ratings agency’s outlook for 2025 is upbeat about the prospects for both the US and European CLO markets, helped by declining leveraged loan defaults

Direct lenders add pricey terms on amend-and-extend deals
Companies negotiating an amendment with direct lenders might find the deal costly as most demand extra fees, payment and security to execute, according to a new survey

BNP Paribas develops 'call score' for US CLOs
The new feature, dubbed ‘Call Score’, rates deals on a scale between 0 and 100, with the aim of identifying CLO deals that are imminent call candidates

Triple C assets and capital preservation
In the US and Europe, better performing CLOs tend to hold fewer triple C assets. But even so, a third of top performing CLOs in the US have more than 6% of their assets in the triple C bucket.

Direct lending defaults decline for all except middle market according to Proskauer
Default rates for US direct loans declined to 1.95% in the third quarter of 2024 from 2.71% in the second quarter, according to a new report from law firm Proskauer

LBOs on the rebound: How leveraged loans are stealing the spotlight from direct lenders in 2024
2024 has seen a resurgence in LBO activity, with many of the largest deals opting for leveraged loans over direct lending for financing

Defaults hit 5% YTD for US private debt-backed companies according to Fitch
The monthly default rate for North American private credit-backed companies hit 5% in August, driven by PIKs and interest deferrals

Reset or refinancing?
The CLO market is expecting another strong half year for both resets and refinancings. But what factors are leading equity investors to prefer resetting deals over refinancing them?

JP Morgan revises CLO spread target upwards as recession fears mount
Off the back of renewed recession fears JP Morgan has revised its end-of-year AAA CLO spread target upwards to 150bps for both the US and Europe

New survey explores middle-market CLO operations
S&P Global Market Intelligence, in collaboration with Creditflux, conducted a study of middle-market CLO managers to assess how specialists are adapting their operations to tap this burgeoning opportunity

Older CLOs show they’ve still got it
The CLO primary market is vibrant — but some older vintages are still performing very well. We look at the equity performance of US BSL CLOs that have exited their reinvestment period

Bank holdings of CLOs drop by nearly 3% in first quarter
US bank holdings of CLOs fell 2.93% to USD 199bn in the first quarter, as repayments outweighed purchases of the securities

Technical strength drives primary US CLOs spreads below historical norms
Triple As are now pricing on top of historical levels, and other investment-grade CLO tranches are already pricing much tighter than historical trends, thanks to the technical strength observed in the primary US BSL CLO market

Higher interest rates have caused more private credit downgrades, new report says
The lagging impact of higher interest rates is resulting in a sizeable uptick in private credit downgrades, according to a new report from KBRA