CLO rankings: 2023 turns out OK
Last year may not have seen records in the primary CLO market, but it was a very solid performer with a strong finish. 

You seem familiar
The overlap between European CLOs has risen to 51.6%, but the largest issuers are only slightly more aligned to their peers at 55.19% — so bonds are proving to be an important differentiator

We’re drifting apart
Everyone’s issuing US CLOs these days and it is tempting to believe the crowd of managers is blending into one. However, overall portfolio overlap has dropped to 37.7% across 2021 CLOs  

CLO managers show respect to their elders
Alongside lucrative new issues, managers also make time for refinancing and resetting old deals. Our data shows that, in 2021, mid-sized firms were the most effective at this balancing act

2020 CLOs find redemption is sweet
The believers have been vindicated with 2020 CLOs among the best-performing of all time by IRR. Even those that have been reset have been a success with par flushes making for huge equity distributions.

Coronavirus tiers up old ranking script
Forget everything you thought you knew about CLO manager tiers. Apollo and Blackstone are mainstays, but smaller, more nimble issuers are finding new ways to stand out from the crowd

Woah, we’re halfway there
Judging by the 2020 vintage, European CLO overlap is 50%. But varied approaches to holding bonds and the many loans managers turn down mean there are ways for issuers to outperform

Europe’s newcomers find ways to stand out
Last year’s new European CLO managers needed to provide something different for investors. In general, they’ve succeeded, with Capital Four having one of the smallest overlap figures in our data

We’ve survived before, we can do so again

CSAM sees sun after nine years in shade

The ideal home for a loan

Beyond blacklists: the next step in ESG
Credit managers are integrating ESG into their investment processes, but that does not mean they are unable to invest in unethical credits — they can, if they are paid adequately for the risk.

CLOs at a glance
A round-up of CLO performance

Market rallies as key CLO investor retreats

New kids on the block dominate awards

Budge up, more new managers are coming

Seriously, the CLO arb is difficult right now

CLOs at a glance
A round-up of CLO performance

Large, liquid loans aren’t always perfect
CLOs could be forgiven for rushing to buy Refinitiv loans — after all it was the biggest LBO since the crisis. But some large managers have abstained, while others have bought opportunistically

We can’t hide it any longer, we’re tiering up
With the opening months of 2019 highlighting a clear class system among CLO managers, there has never been a better time to assess tiering. We find that timing, patience and luck all play a role

Keep calm and buy corporate loans
Calm heads prevailed in 2018. Markets were volatile and risk retention was supposed to cause problems, but there was no need to panic and volumes went on to break records set in 2014

The financial crisis was the making of ’em
Some of the largest and best performing CLO managers before the crisis were fairly nimble by today’s standards — but these 1.0 outperformers are now among the biggest names in the industry

Tastes change in secondary trading
Our analysis of the secondary market shows that, since 2013, appetite for CLOs run by tier one managers persists through market dips and rallies.

It pays to eat your own cooking
CLO managers affiliated with PE firms buy extra debt from companies owned by those firms – and it seems to give them an advantage