Points up front: CLO awards banter
The Creditflux Manager Awards have a history of springing surprises. This year we had journalist and TV presenter Gavin Esler host the awards dinner and regale the audience with a Dolly Parton gag (the less said about that, the better).

Points up front: It’s getting hot in here
The role that journalists play in reporting on the CLO industry has been in the spotlight this year, with the mainstream press guilty of resorting to hyperbolic statements and fear-mongering. So it was a surprise to learn that these views were being given a public platform at IMN’s CLO conference last month on a panel titled Addressing the Headlines. 

Continuous par build can provide a rainy-day fund for when downgrades to triple Cs pour in
If CLO managers are preparing for mass downgrades to triple C loans, then trading gains and thick OC cushions are the best defences

Superficial analysis in the press fails to account for critical differences between CLOs and CDOs
Credit risk is rising, but any failures among CLOs will not impact the financial system as a whole

Past returns: Juicing up returns
In Creditflux five years ago, we reported on a slim buyer base for senior CLO tranches causing dealers to sell these positions to credit hedge fund managers, with banks willing to finance these purchases.

Points up front: Goldman CLO head smashes triathlon
The head of US CLO syndication at Goldman Sachs, Jamil Nathoo, last month completed the South Beach Triathlon in Miami to raise money for Memorial Sloan Kettering, a cancer treatment centre in New York

Points up front: An unethical CLO? Can’t be right, can it?
On 1 April, our new writer Faro Ipoll posted a report on Fetid Brook Capital’s plans for a CLO backed by unethical loans — counter to the trend of environmental, social and governance-friendly CLOs.

Experience has taught me to be sceptical of second lien loans
Alex Jackson takes our credit quiz

Past Returns: Repacking in land of the rising sun
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported that Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ was embarking on a strategy of buying repackaged CLO triple A notes denominated in Japanese yen

Past returns: short and sweet
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported on Pimco emerging as a major buyer of triple A-rated US CLO tranches

Points up front: Credit Suisse and Sound Point rekindle the fire
Sound Point CLO XII was refinanced on 14 February and arranger Credit Suisse displayed its passion for CLO structuring by embedding half a dozen hearts in its pricing email

Points up front: Two scoops or none
Norinchukin Bank’s CLO holdings have been the subject of much debate in the mainstream financial media

The extra 250-350bp is excessive compensation for the incremental risks run by long-term CLO investors
Double B-rated CLOs price at a premium over corporate credit and yet default rates are much lower

Q4 2018, which had loan price volatility without defaults, was close to nirvana for CLO investors
The current vintage of CLOs could be the best ever if the volatility in Q4, when retail funds dumped loans, repeats itself, says our columnist Thomas Majewski

Past returns: Columbia wins at long game
Ten years ago in Creditflux we reported on loan and bond holders squabbling as they sought to extract maximum value from LyondellBasell debt after the company filed for bankruptcy in January 2009

We are yet to find a mass-media article that devotes attention to the potential merits of CLOs
Far too many recent mass-media articles critical of the CLO market are heavy on the hyperbole and light on the facts, writes our columnist and Eagle Point founder Thomas Majewski

Past returns: Bond buckets are pipedreams, right?
Five years ago in Creditflux we reported that Webster Bank’s CLO tranche investor Francis Mitchell had created a working group in response to the Volcker rule determining that regional banks could no longer invest in CLOs with bond buckets

They said it: Too easy to launch CLOs
"It’s just too easy to issue CLOs — way easier than it should be"

Points up front: “I always think of myself as Bruce Lee when I’m investing in CLO equity”
An analytical mind, a strong network of industry contacts and an eye for value are vital for a competent CLO equity investor. But don’t forget the one-inch punch

Selling at the time of the default or downgrade can often be the worst value decision for the CLO
CLOs don’t have to be forced sellers during distress cycles: skilled CLO managers and well-structured indentures can give optimal recoveries, says our columnist Thomas Majewski

Points up front: Pining for Halcyon days
Last month, one of the biggest managers in the US CLO market, Halcyon Capital Management, rebranded to become
Bardin Hill Investment Partners

Loan managers need an equity-like mindset instead of relying on docs
Octagon's Lauren Basmadjian takes our credit quiz and talks about buying CLO equity in 2009, the impact of technology on the retail sector and Eddie Murphy's 1980s heyday

If the loan was not cov-lite, it is likely that Weight Watchers would have defaulted
Cov-lite loans have negative connotations, but they will enable some companies to trade through a bad patch and return to health  

Past returns: Oh brother, where art thou?
10 years ago in Creditflux, we reported on perhaps the single biggest moment in the history of the credit market as Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and subsequently disappeared

The perception of liquidity is often not the same as the reality
Investec Asset Management's Jeff Boswell takes our credit quiz and discusses liquidity in Europe, the former "darling of the European debt market" Vivarte and the Matrix