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

Lenders turn to quality over quantity

Investors go first in lien at loan queue

Investors seek oasis as new issues dry up

High yield bonds regain lost ground

Moving on from the late 2018 hangover
It might be too early to call a full recovery, but it’s fair to say that the US loan market is back on track with $48 billion of institutional issuance in 2019 — 88% of which is made up of new issues

Retail fund pain is a CLO manager’s gain
Retail funds dumped loans in record volumes late in 2018, creating ideal conditions for CLOs to capitalise with performing credits available in the mid-90s for the first time in years

Loan volumes fall in Europe but rise in US
European CLO managers seem to be eating into the loan market with more appetite than their, US counterparts, who are perhaps spoiled for choice. But background risks lurk in both markets

Libor rise gives timely boost to US loan yields
Competition for US loans among CLOs, ETFs and mutual funds is keeping margins in check. However, the 60bp increase in Libor in Q1 means there’s still reason to pile into the loan market

Spotlight: Local exchange carriers - calling for rescue on the M&A hotline
Growth-starved US phone companies are seeing consolidation as the best way to improve performance