Euro CLO round-up: Managers race to the bottom as spreads dip below 70bp
With the recent ruling in the US causing uncertainty, managers including Blackrock and Bain have been ensuring they’re risk retention compliant on both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, European CLO spreads continue on a monumental rally

Ares switches to C-Corp structure as it announces "record year" in earnings release
Ares has announced a change to its corporate tax status in an earnings release that described 2017 as “a record year” for the firm

BlackRock prices reset of debut Euro CLO
BlackRock Investment Management has reset its debut European CLO from 2016, according to market sources

Europe's CLO reset spreads tighten by 2bp as KKR prices deal
European CLO reset spreads tightened again on Friday as KKR Credit Advisors priced the second largest reset transaction on record

Manager prices first new issue CLO in Europe since September 2016
The New York-headquartered manager has launched its first new issue CLO in Europe since 2016, pricing a €411 million deal via Morgan Stanley yesterday

Blackstone's credit AUM up 48% YoY as firm announces "exceptional" results
The firm's credit business enjoyed composite gross returns of 11.2% for performing credit and 7.7% for distressed strategies in 2017

European CLO round-up: who's going to be first to break 70bp?
European CLO spreads continue to rally and the question on everyone’s lips right now is: “when [not if] will triple As dip below 70 basis points?” Most likely the next question posed will be “are US CLO market participants fretting upon similar quandaries?”

US pensions look beyond equities
US pension funds dramatically lowered their allocations to equity in the decade ending in 2016 as they diversified into illiquid and alternative assets. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

Axa IM holds €1.1 billion final close on European infrastructure debt fund
Axa Investment Managers – Real Assets (AXA IM) held a final close on its co-mingled pan-European infrastructure debt fund at over €1.1 billion, a spokesperson has confirmed

European CLO spreads tighten dramatically as Cairn prices new issue deal
Double A and single A rated notes tighten well inside 2017 tights as Cairn prices a new issue European CLO

Goldman's monthly CLO volumes pass $2.5 billion following latest reset
Goldman Sach's impressive start to its 2018 CLO activity continues as the bank has priced a $517 million reset deal

Alcentra prices US CLO triple As at 112bp following reset
The manager has priced its first CLO transaction of 2018 via MUFG

US league tables: CBAM tops US CLO rankings after meteoric rise
Just over a year ago, New York-based CBAM Partners commenced operations amid much fanfare. Fast forward 12 months and the asset manager has delivered on its promise, with Creditflux data showing that the firm was the largest CLO issuer of 2017

Euro league tables: Citi tops rankings in a year of growth for the CLO market
50 new issue CLOs, 39 active managers and four debutants: Creditflux analyses the revival of the European CLO market last year

European direct lending up 34% in recent quarter: Deloitte report
Direct lending in Europe continues to boom, according to the latest Deloitte deal tracker, which found a 34% growth of direct lending deals in third quarter 2017 alone compared to third quarter 2016

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

Managers line up behind tighter guidelines for drawdown funds
Six months after new guidelines were released over the use of subscription lines of credit for private equity-style funds, the aftershocks have been less dramatic than some credit managers expected

Finra pencils in proposals to trace extra detail in CLO trades
Finra is stepping up its efforts to provide greater transparency on secondary CLO pricing, according to several market sources

Balance of power shifts away from direct lenders
Mid-sized corporations are getting their way at the expense of direct lenders at the negotiation table, recent research suggests.

They said it: long faces on flow traders
Citi’s Jim Hughes tells the Creditflux CLO Investor Summit about how difficult life is for flow credit traders

Angel Oak CMV plants seed for newly risen CLO market
Atlanta-based manager Angel Oak Capital is looking to fertilise the budding market for CLOs backed by subordinated bank debt

Shrinking spread cushions prove hard for CLOs
 Falling loan spreads are placing ever tighter constraints on CLO managers’ choice of investments just as the loan supply itself is declining

Insurance reallocation tightens CLO mezzanine
Buying by US insurance firms has been the biggest factor driving double A to triple B CLO spreads tighter this year, according to Citi CLO head Jim Hughes

Managers pick spots on CLO curve
As refi volumes slowed through 2017, the term curve for CLOs steepened, leading managers to vary their deal tenors as they sought to hit the evolving sweet spot.

Retail sector ailments could easily turn into pandemic
Credit’s retail malady is infectious and uncontainable as retailers face up to obsolete business models