It’s all relative: the Cornetto trilogy of CLO triple Bs
CLO arrangers have let their imaginations run wild when assembling triple-B rated notes – not because these have been tricky to shift, but because there is appetite for triple B CLOs that don't taste vanilla. The result is fat, split and overlapping triple Bs 

Record-breaking Apollo and Blackstone European CLOs make first distributions
Two 2020 CLOs managed by Blackstone Credit and Redding Ridge (Apollo) that set equity cover records in the secondary CLO market earlier this year have made their first payments

CSOs and index tranches reach sticking point as correlation gets rich
Credit correlation trading looks to have reached a point of inflexion, as the previous bull run at the lower end of index capital stacks has given way to caution over how much further spread compression can go. At the same time, bespoke tranche business is gaining interest but equity remains stickier to sell at the market's ultra-low spread and volatility levels

Fitch lowers US loan default rates for 2021 and 2022
The rating agency has $200.9 billion of ‘market concern loans’ on its radar, saying these have declined in volume for the 12^th month straight but are still up 16% from pre-pandemic.

S&P lowers default rate forecast for US loan index
S&P Global Ratings has revised down its leveraged loan default rate forecast for the end of the year, based on the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, from 3.5% to 2.75%

BofA reveals top CLO managers through covid by market value and distributions
Bank of America's research desk has highlighted eight CLO managers with the best performance statistics through the covid-19 crisis, based on market value change and interest distributions

Credit Rendezvous: ready and waiting
In Creditflux's quarterly review of credit, portfolio managers tell us that Inflation is likely to nudge higher but they are optimistic because dispersion will pick up and windows of volatility will emerge, rather than elongated phases of stress 

Beneath the triple C: CLOs benefit as upgrades make for lighter triple C buckets
For the first time since the sell off in March last year, downgrades to triple C have come to a near-standstill

"IG investors might want to rethink the instrument, but they need not fear rising rates just yet"
In his latest column for Creditflux, Cheyne's Duncan Sankey writes that the sharp rise in 10-year US treasuries could be positive for investment grade investors, but value is in CDS rather than bonds 

"Three CLOs issued in 2021 have included triple C baskets of 20%"
Big triple C buckets helped mid market CLO issuers in 2020 and the trend is for even bigger allowances this year

Fund performance: assortment of funds step up
Seven categories are represented in this month’s top 10, making it the most diverse since February 2020

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris lead the pack again
Ucits funds saw the brighter side of February, as 80% of funds achieved a positive return

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

Sandalwood funds of credit funds outperform in February
Credit funds of funds came out on top in February, a month characterised by the sell off in US treasuries

"CLO managers who struck the right balance in 2020 are more easily able to reset their deals"
CLO managers were re-evaluated during the pandemic, and outperformers can expect to see benefits this year

"Watch the IG credit curve — we may see steepening of IG 5s10s and flattening of 10s30s"
Stimulus measures are supporting short tenors, and pension demand for 30-year paper is strong, so 10-year IG credit may have few buyers

"We have to think about the influence of social media like Reddit"
Schroders' Michelle Russell-Dowe takes our credit quiz

Creditflux and Debtwire unveil CLO stressed and distressed market analysis
The first edition of the CLO Distressed Roundup, a joint-report by Creditflux and Debtwire, takes a deep dive into the distressed and stressed loans held by CLOs as of December. Our report shows CLO portfolios are 10.2% stressed and 4.17% distressed, lower than not only the nadir of the pandemic in May, but also before the pandemic

Cairn fills CLO gap by assigning bigger role to loan portfolio manager
Cairn Capital has given CLO portfolio manager responsibilities to a loan portfolio manager, following the departure of CLO portfolio manager Marcus Knight earlier this year

People underestimate the impact they can have with ESG
Muzinich's Kirsten Bode takes our credit quiz

CLO naysayers have made arb and cov-lite into dirty words — that should now change
Recent performance has shown that cov-lite loans and challenging arb don’t spell doom for CLOs 

Moving fast pays off for hedge funds
2020 was an up and down year in credit, and credit hedge fund managers had to move quickly to capture opportunities from the dislocations that inevitably opened up

European CLO and loan spreads jostle in tight race
New issue CLO spreads have tightened so sharply in Europe that market participants are questioning how long the process can continue. 

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

Fund performance: CLO funds pick up where they left off
New year, same funds leading the way with CLO strategies the top performers in January