US private credit default rate drops to 3.6% in Q4: Proskauer
US private credit default rates dropped to 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to law firm Prokskauer’s Private Credit Default Index

It's all relative: CLOs are lagging no more, as Carlyle deal drags market tighter
“CLOs are lagging” has been a much repeated refrain over the last nine months. But Carlyle Group has this week produced a US CLO that has dragged spreads to their tightest point in three years so that, rather than comparing CLOs to pre-covid levels, they should be assessed against early 2018

The tide has turned… the solution for investors is to move into floating rate loans
2020 was the year of fixed-rate bonds, but treasury curves are steepening and demand for loans is heating up

At least 2020 wasn’t dreadful for CLOs
Last year’s downturn was another in which CLOs survived and in many cases thrived as active management and Libor floors helped managers deliver 13%-plus returns to equity

Early 2021 moves open up CLO and credit curve dislocations
Fund managers are keeping a close watch on credit curves as sharp moves since the start of December have forced relative value to shift between corporate bonds, CDS, CLOs and loans. This has put CDS curve steepeners in focus but, conversely, CLO flattening appears likely.

US banks embrace CLOs again to drive spread compression
The three big US bank-buyers of senior CLO tranches — Citi, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo — all returned to the mar-ket as investors in January after sitting out for much of 2020

Redding Ridge equity covers at 116 for new European CLO record
Redding Ridge Asset Management set a new record on Wednesday as €5.2 million of RRE 4, a 2020 vintage CLO, traded in the secondary CLO market with a cover of 115.8

CLO managers face ramping challenges as inflation risk rises
A mix of inflation worries and pandemic uncer-tainty is pushing up loan prices and causing CLO managers to struggle to construct new portfolios

Credit funds at a glance (February 2021)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Fund performance: CLO funds keep up momentum as Napier Park finishes top
2020 ended with funds in our CLOs category taking the top few spots

Ucits at a glance: Advent ends calendar year on top
Ucits ended 2020 on the rise as 89% of funds achieved positive returns in December

Credit hedge funds (February 2021)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Napier Park fund ends 2020 on top with massive 29.5% gain
Napier Park Global Capital stormed to the top of our credit hedge fund rankings for 2020, registering a gain of 29.49% through Napier Park Eton Fund.

A year that looked like it would be a total wipe-out ended up being very constructive indeed
Our columnist looks back at some of the surprises of 2020

It's all relative: senior CLO tranches tighten 18% in Europe as CDS indices sit out rally

US and European control CLO positions land in secondary market
The first control equity positions of 2021 for the European and US CLO markets were listed in the secondary market on Thursday

Blackstone raises $1.1 billion for mezz and $1.7 billion for direct lending
The New York-based manager had a strong final quarter of 2020, adding $13.1 billion in credit assets under management in the quarter

OC health check: CLOs end 2020 with fragile recovery
Only 109 CLOs breached an overcollateralisation test in December, falling from 121 in November. This in turn was down from the 147 CLOs that breached an OC test in October, but 33 cured their breaches in November and a further 11 cured all OC test failures in December

Credit Rendezvous: heading for homes
Fund managers in structured credit, real assets and distressed are bullish on the prospects for residential housing in 2021. Elsewhere, niche royalty-based strategies are in favour and although a CLO repricing wave is expected, it may not be easy to execute resets. For more, read our 13-page quarterly report on credit. 

Credit funds at a glance: several funds post double digit November returns
November was a strong month for credit hedge funds listed by Creditflux, with latest returns demonstrating the effect of the vaccine/US election rally on fund perfomance

Prophet ends 2020 on high with new-look structured credit platform
Prophet Capital has revamped the liquidity profile of its structured credit platform after restructuring its CLO and structured credit hedge fund, which it gated back in March amid the market sell-off. The fund manager managed to grow assets under management after 2020's rocky start

Eagle Point makes large investment in rival's CLO fund
Eagle Point Credit Management has made a large investment in the preferred stock in a competitor's publicly traded CLO fund

Beneath the triple C: 13 CLO loans take a dive but defaults subside to a ripple
22 corporate debt issuers were downgraded to triple C or below in November and December by Moody’s or S&P, out of which 13 can be found in CLO portfolios  – hurting $4.55 billion of US CLO loans, €1.87 billion of European CLO portfolios and almost $80 million of middle market CLOs loans, according to CLO-i

Moody's begins upgrading CLO tranches
Moody's began the gradual process of upgrading CLO tranches in December, ending on a more positive note a year which brought the biggest wave of tranche downgrades

CLO issuers flex their bond muscles
Some panellists at Creditflux’s US CLO Investor Summit pointed to structural difficulties, but the consensus was that flexibility — particularly the ability to buy bonds — could improve performance