Sound Point prices first CLO under new performing credit head
Sound Point Capital Management priced their latest deal on Wednesday, according to market sources. Sound Point CLO 36, arranged by BNP Paribas, is a US broadly syndicated CLO, and the manager’s first deal this year.

Blackstone rethinks captive equity strategy
Blackstone has announced proposals to wind down its existing risk retention vehicle, Blackstone Loan Financing Limited (BGLF).

CLO market thaws as Onex prices
The CLO market seems to be back in business as Onex priced their third deal of the year, following on from yesterday's Bain CLO.

Secondary activity ramps up as post-Barcelona rally continues
BWIC activity across European ABS and CLOs increased this week as investors and asset managers look to take some risk off heading into the summer  

Bain prints second largest BSL CLO of the year with tightest pricing in June
Bain Capital Credit priced the second largest broadly syndicated loan-backed CLO of the year on Tuesday

Deutsche Bank adds to CLO sales team in New York
Deutsche Bank has continued to staff up its US CLO business with another hire.

Scotiabank hires another to bolster CLO platform
Scotiabank continues to beef up its structured credit team. Earlier this month, the Toronto-based bank hired an associate director for structured credit.

PennantPark's mid market CLO volumes pass $2 billion after latest new issue
PennantPark Investment Advisors teamed up with BNP Paribas on Friday to print a new middle market CLO named PennantPark CLO VII

MUFG names new head of CLOs as Khan leaves to join Natixis
MUFG's head of structured products has left the bank to join Natixis in New York

Zais prints its first new US CLO in 15 months
Zais Group partnered with Jefferies on Friday to print its first new US CLO in 15 months

Golub's new CLO shows over 5bp of triple A spread tightening since March
Golub Capital Partners priced its fourth CLO of 2023 on Friday and its second of the year backed by broadly syndicated loans

Slow pace of loan prepayments increasing CLO tranche WAL, finds Barclays
Prepayment rates in the leveraged loan market have dropped to post-financial crisis lows, thereby increasing CLO debt tranches' weighted average life and slowing the pace of amortization for deals that have left reinvestment, according to new research published by Barclays

Jump in loan prices sees CLO primary stall in the US
US CLO primary supply almost ground to a halt in June with just three transactions printing in the first half of the month

CLOs at a glance
Recent CLO issuance

Japanese investors and ETFs bid up CLO triple As as US banks cool off
CLOs saw healthy demand from Japan in the first three months of the year, with Japan Post Bank and Norinchukin each increasing investments in the asset class. Japan Post’s CLO holdings stood at JPY2.3 trillion ($17.51 billion) as of 31 March, an increase of $550 million in the quarter and up 32.7% on the year prior. Nochu added $110 million to JPY6.4 trillion ($48.2 billion), or 13% of the bank’s investment portfolio.

Managers scramble to launch captive equity funds as they become best route to market
A plethora of CLO managers are eyeing captive equity fund launches in 2023 with the lack of such vehicles cited as the “main hurdle” for issuing deals.

CLOs hit by bankruptcy of Envision as zero recovery predicted for first lien loans
Envision has joined the growing number of companies to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The emergency medical services company, which has been owned by KKR since 2018, announced on 15 May that it was entering a restructuring support agreement.

Low warehouse balances show CLOs bracing for volatility
A record number of CLO warehouses are open but contain record low balances, according to several market sources. The figures indicate that CLO managers and equity investors are preparing for a sell-off in the loan market in the latter half of 2023.

Lender on lender violence increasing as defaults tick up, conference hears
CLO managers are seeing an increase in aggressive lending practices as the long-anticipated rise in loan defaults begins to materialise, panelists at Debtwire's US Private Credit Forum said in New York on Wednesday

Blue Owl surpasses $1 billion mid market CLOs in 2023 as asset class booms
Blue Owl Capital became the second firm to print three middle market CLOs in 2023 on Tuesday, surpassing $1 billion in volumes for the year

BMO hires ex-Deutsche Bank CLO structurer
BMO Capital Markets has hired an ex-Deutsche Bank structurer to lead its structured credit origination business in North America.

Scotiabank hires former euro CLO and ABS syndication head from Deutsche Bank
Scotiabank has hired a former Deutsche Bank CLO syndication specialist as director for securitised products sales in Dublin

Trepp launches new CLO data service
Trepp, a New York-based data provider, has launched a new leveraged loan and corporate CLO analysis database called TreppCLO

DoubleLine breaks US CLO issuance deadlock with first deal in 18 months
DoubleLine Capital priced its first new CLO in over 18 months on Friday, breaking the issuance deadlock that bound the US market this last week

CVC prints sixth CLO of 2023 and becomes second largest issuer this year
CVC Credit Partners priced its sixth new CLO of the year on Friday, growing its issuance volumes for 2023 to $2.7 billion