CLOs at a glance (February 2021)
A listing of CLOs that have priced in the last month

Global CLO b-wic round-up: US lower mezz trades strong, but European piece softens
CLO investors have had no chance to catch their breath after a historic 2020 as US CLO secondary volume reached $3.3 billion and European secondary listings topped €1 billion in January

US and European control CLO positions land in secondary market
The first control equity positions of 2021 for the European and US CLO markets were listed in the secondary market on Thursday

CLO pipeline: OFS to make comeback as 2020 absentees eye new issues
As liability spreads tighten day by day, the CLO pipeline is filling fast. 2020 absentees are joining the parade as four US managers and three European managers aim to return to the new issue market after taking a break of 12 months or longer

OC health check: CLOs end 2020 with fragile recovery
Only 109 CLOs breached an overcollateralisation test in December, falling from 121 in November. This in turn was down from the 147 CLOs that breached an OC test in October, but 33 cured their breaches in November and a further 11 cured all OC test failures in December

Buy CLO equity to capitalise on reflation, says JP Morgan
CLO equity stands out in a tightly priced market as offering up to double digit yields, say JP Morgan structured credit strategists, who posit it as their top trade

CLO tranche ratings to stabilise as Fitch revises covid stress scenario
Fitch Ratings says it expects to shift most of its CLO tranche outlooks from negative to stable, following revision of its global CLO coronavirus stress scenario

CLO pipeline: 2020 absentees join new issue rush
The CLO pipeline is growing by the minute as managers prepare their first new issues of the year after varying lengths out of the market

Stratus-faction: Blackstone climbs back to the top
Nine CLOs in a year crushed by covid takes Blackstone back to the top of the AUM rankings. But for all managers, it was a good effort to get back on track

Beneath the triple C: 13 CLO loans take a dive but defaults subside to a ripple
22 corporate debt issuers were downgraded to triple C or below in November and December by Moody’s or S&P, out of which 13 can be found in CLO portfolios  – hurting $4.55 billion of US CLO loans, €1.87 billion of European CLO portfolios and almost $80 million of middle market CLOs loans, according to CLO-i

Global 2020 CLO league tables
Global 2020 CLO league tables 

CLO M&A to pick up with underperformers at risk
CLO manager consolidation is expected to be elevated into 2021 as the market recovers from the aftershock of covid-19

CLO 2021 outlook: back to the 'old' normal with volumes, spreads and structures to revert to pre-covid levels
Predictions went out the window this year because, well, who in December 2019 could have foreseen a pandemic devastating lives and wrecking financial markets? But the emergence of vaccines to combat the threat of the coronavirus has spurred a rally in credit over the last month. And CLO researchers expect a resurgence in 2021 with US new issue CLO volumes predicted to hit the $80-110 billion range, according to reports analysed by Creditflux.

CLOs at a glance (January 2021)
A listing of CLOs that have priced in the last month

Vaccine boosts credit as PE firms open up to bridge loans
The leveraged loan and CLO markets ended 2020 on a long-awaited high after multiple vaccines for covid-19 were rubber-stamped by regulators

Global CLO b-wic round-up: junior tranches trade above par as US volumes reach $45bn
A busy week of over $1.4 billion of US CLO secondary bonds and €290 million of European CLO paper gave light to CLO spreads across the capital structure continuing their push towards pre-covid levels

It's all relative: Euro CLO mezz rallies to follow month-long IG/HY compression
European credit suffered this week with Brexit talks between the UK and the EU dragging on and both sides conceding that a trade deal is unlikely to be reached by Sunday’s deadline. But European CLO tranches have held up reasonably well with mezzanine spreads tightening by almost 13% in December

All’s well that ends well in 2020 OC tests

Global CLO league tables - November 2020 YTD
Global CLO league tables - November 2020 YTD

Europe leads corporate credit rally, but US outperforms in CLOs
iTraxx Crossover has been the CDS market's outperformer this week, tightening over 30 basis points, or 11.4%, to trade at 235bp today. But in the CLO market, US deals have come out on top thanks to a BlackRock CLO that priced its double Bs at some of the tightest levels this year

CLO pipeline: LCM switches arranger to complete deal and join issuance surge
Over $3.5 billion of global CLO issuance priced last week and managers in all three CLO markets are taking advantage of tightening spreads across the capital structure after three major covid-19 vaccine breakthroughs and increased confidence since the US presidential election

Global CLO b-wic round-up: Junior tranches rally amid heavy supply, including portfolio liquidation
The US CLO secondary market rally is showing no signs of slowing down after a week of over $1 billion worth of bonds was listed and well absorbed, according to market sources. The European market also had a roust week with over €300 million of paper up for grabs, although the market stayed generally flat with some tightening in double and single Bs

OC health check: 41 CLOs heal their breaches
147 CLOs breached an over-collateralisation test in October, down from 183 in September. 41 CLOs that breached an OC test in September passed all OC tests in October, most of which had October payment dates

CLO pipeline: New issuance pause ends as managers look to gain from rallying spreads
It is two and a half weeks since the last US CLO new issue priced, but that is set to change and Bridgepoint’s debut European transaction on Friday brought an end to Europe’s own two-and-a-half-week primary break

Global CLO b-wic round-up: Secondary markets rally despite ‘worst liquidity seen all year’
An adjournment in the US for Veterans Day last week still left plenty of time for the CLO secondary market to rally, thanks to Pfizer's covid-19 vaccine breakthrough and a firmer indication of the US presidential election results