Past returns: Insurers weigh CLO barbell trade to fight Solvency II
Five years ago in Creditflux we reported that insurers in Europe were putting on a CLO barbell trade in reaction to Solvency II regulations which came into effect in January 2016

They said it: "Remove call option from CLO assets and liabilities"
A CLO investor, commenting in Creditflux’s CLO Census, comes up with a drastic way of making CLO cashflows a whole lot easier to model

"CLO equity investors have long accepted basis risk… but an off-market adjustment does not work"
The 26bp adjustment is disrupting the transition away from Libor — but market forces will prevail

Everyone’s ramping

Past returns: Black Diamond riles investors
10 years ago in Creditflux, we reported on lawsuits against Black Diamond Capital Management after it tried to make $45 million of trades in Black Diamond CLO 2005-1 using cash the deal hadn’t yet received

They said it: "Oh, hell no!"
PineBridge Investment portfolio manager Laila Kollmorgen tells the audience at Creditflux’s CLO Symposium that she is unequivocally against increasing triple C limits from 7.5%

Points up front: CLO award-winners love bowing out at the top
Reaching the summit of their profession gives CLO officials the compulsion to move on to pastures new, as evidenced by the Creditflux Manager Awards

Points up front: Risk retention gets less than 5% of airtime
In a sign of how buoyant the CLO market is, risk retention was hardly mentioned at Creditflux’s CLO Symposium. Milbank partner John Goldfinch gave a self-deprecating assessment... 

"Purchasing IG CLO debt was a key driver of success for 1.0 CLOs"
Longer reinvestment periods, the ability to buy IG tranches and improved loan settlements would improve CLOs

"I’m passionate about broader representation within investment teams"
CIP's Leila Donnachy takes our credit quiz 

"If you sat still on a large portfolio of 2019 and 2020 CLOs, it may have shrunk by more than 25%"

"The CLO industry can be a little clubby… it feels like there are few advocates"
Pension Danmark's David Altenhofen taks our credit quiz 

Past returns: Prophet’s early CLO redemption
In Creditflux five years ago, we reported that Prophet Capital, the control equity investor in Covenant Credit Partners CLO I, had driven liquidation of the deal

They said it: "The debtor’s [Highland’s] founder, James Dondero, created an elaborate web of approximately 2,000 business entities&qu
Highland’s unsecured creditors break down the company’s corporate structure

Points up front: Swapping bylines for a role on the buy side
Creditflux has specialised in CLO coverage for over a decade now and generally we’ve had a clear run at the market because few of our peers appreciate how the CLO machine works. The exception to that has been highly-respected Bloomberg journalist Sarah Husband

"Do not rush to set up a check-box approach with negative screening and start de-investing"
Instead of rushing through an ESG framework, asset managers need to adopt a long- and short-term approach

"Alongside larger private equity funds, loan volumes will continue to grow"
Spire's Phil Bennett-Britton takes our credit quiz

"In some ways, CLOs resemble a quirky, cottage industry more than a trillion-dollar market"
CLO volumes outstanding have passed $1 trillion, but index omission and private placements are holding us back

Past returns: Doing DIY CLOs
Five years ago we reported that CLO managers were considering self-arranged CLOs

They said it: "The mantra is doing good and doing well without sacrificing returns"
CarVal on its ESG line of CLOs

Points up front: Writing the book on CMVs
Former Canyon Partners CLO head Dominique Mielle has gone from poring over CLO documentation to writing a novel about her experiences in the credit industry

"I’ve been doing ESG for 27 years; I just didn’t know it"
Apollo's Joe Mornoey takes our credit quiz

"Spacs… what better buyer than someone with a short fuse who needs to get their capital working"
Since the beginning of 2020, more than $191 billion has been raised in spac (special purpose acquisition company) IPOs. This money has such a short fuse — get a deal done in 24 months or management loses the IPO costs it covered — and there has been so much of it, that it has had an impact on the markets

Past returns: Mid market CLOs move into light
Ten years ago in Creditflux, we reported that S&P was reducing shadow ratings after it notified CLO managers it would not assign such ratings to companies with more than $499 million of outstanding debt