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 2021 outlook: back to the 'old' normal with volumes, spreads and structures to revert to pre-covid levels
Predictions went out the window this year because, well, who in December 2019 could have foreseen a pandemic devastating lives and wrecking financial markets? But the emergence of vaccines to combat the threat of the coronavirus has spurred a rally in credit over the last month. And CLO researchers expect a resurgence in 2021 with US new issue CLO volumes predicted to hit the $80-110 billion range, according to reports analysed by Creditflux.

All’s well that ends well in 2020 OC tests
Swathes of CLOs failed over-collateralisation tests last year, but unlike the drawn-out recovery following the 2008 financial crisis, the return to compliance after the covid-19 crash was rapid 

Fund performance: CLOs look to continue recovery with end of the year in sight
CLO funds claim the majority of positions in our top 10

Ucits at a glance: Year-to-date returns head for double figures
Ucits funds generally performed well in October as 75% achieved positive returns

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

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

Vaccine boosts credit as PE firms open up to bridge loans
The leveraged loan and CLO markets ended 2020 on a long-awaited high after multiple vaccines for covid-19 were rubber-stamped by regulators

Napier Park flexible credit fund powers to 17.8% gains in 2020
A European credit fund run by Napier Park Global Capital is up 17.8% in 2020 through to the end of October to sit atop of the list of funds by that metric

Past returns: Barclays gambles and wins on Zohar
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported how Barclays had made gains from its investment in the debt of Zohar CLO I, a deal which was filed into bankruptcy by manager Patriarch Partners a few months earlier

Equity investors call time on CSAM bond-flex CLOs
Two of Credit Suisse Asset Management’s three bond-flex CLOs were called by their equity investors in October, according to notices seen by Creditflux, despite both deals being within their reinvestment periods

Zombies demand brain work from tranche traders
Outperformance of junior tranches and underperformance of senior was the big theme in CDS index tranches going into December. But the picture began to change as Creditflux went to press

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

The right climate doesn’t guarantee a great bottle of wine. The skill of the winemaker is also vital
2020 could still turn out to be the best private credit vintage ever

Direct Lending Perspectives: deal flow gets back on track
Direct lending deal flow popped back towards pre-pandemic levels by the end of Q3, raising hopes that the European middle market is back on its feet after six months were volumes had slumped

All’s well that ends well in 2020 OC tests

AlbaCore generates 55% IRR for new $1 billion dislocation strategy
AlbaCore Capital Group says it generated a 55% internal rate of return on its coronavirus-related European dislocation strategy from March through to November

Moody's considers upgrading 188 US CLO tranches
Moody's has put 188 CLO tranches from 114 US CLOs on review for possible upgrade, reversing an earlier policy in which the agency put large quantities of CLO notes on downgrade watch

Europe leads corporate credit rally, but US outperforms in CLOs
iTraxx Crossover has been the CDS market's outperformer this week, tightening over 30 basis points, or 11.4%, to trade at 235bp today. But in the CLO market, US deals have come out on top thanks to a BlackRock CLO that priced its double Bs at some of the tightest levels this year

European CLOs will perform well in 2021 but expect new deal quality drop, says Moody's
In a report published today, rating agency Moody's said CLOs will continue to perform due to credit enhancement levels and despite rising defaults. But CLO portfolio overlaps look set to increase 

Compression plays out as HY and European CLO double Bs outperform
Investment grade and high yield credit spreads have tightened in sync with each other this week, but CDS and CLOs alike underline that the big theme over the past month has been compression between investment grade and high yield

York axes European hedge funds and prioritises long duration assets as co-CIO leaves
York Capital Management has opted to axe its European hedge fund strategies and refocus on alternatives including CLOs amid a string of executive personnel changes