CDS volume jumps by 50% as investors seek new ways to do business
Credit derivatives traders are wrapping up a bumper year, in which there was a big increase in volume and a growing number of use cases for the product

One-year CSOs come to fore as investors predict widening
With credit spreads entering the fourth quarter at much the same elevated levels they began Q3, investors are increasingly looking to bespoke tranches as a way of taking advantage while mitigating the market’s tail risks.

Dispersion picks up as candidates for distress emerge
Dispersion will be a concern for all parts of the global credit market in the fourth quarter, say traders who are focused on relative value

Position cutting tames market rally and strategists warn on primary impact
Caution is the watchword across financial markets on Tuesday, with the strong recent run giving way to hedging and position cutting ahead of a much-anticipated US inflation reading on Wednesday

CSO equity investors line up deals amid dispersion threat
Synthetic bespoke tranche issuance has hit an impasse in recent months, denting projections for overall 2022 business at the mid-year point. But unlike the covid sell-off of 2020, wider spreads have created a queue of buyers ready to drive deals if condition

Bespoke bond baskets on the rise as investors seek targeted portfolio trades
High yield index replication and accessing illiquid exposure are two factors building momentum for a new investment approach that bundles bonds into a single risk piece

German property co hits new wides as investors scrutinise investigation report
The bearish momentum that gripped financial markets on Friday has spilled over the weekend into Monday's session, with an especially big move in the debt of one German real estate borrower taking it to worrisome spread levels

Performance dispersion hits index equity correlation
Volatility at the start of the year has intensified moves in iTraxx and CDX index tranches, with traders pointing to growing dispersion in performance among constituents as a theme that will bring more focus on equity correlation in 2022

Loans will be winners in bearish year for credit: BNP Paribas
Floating rate loans are best positioned for a year of widening credit spreads, but high yield bonds will outperform investment grade and EM credit is set for losses, says BNP Paribas in its 2022 outlook

Citi's former correlation trading star takes on new risk head role
Citi's former head of credit correlation trading has taken on a new role in the bank, becoming head of in-business market risk for global markets

Dispersion trades in play as transatlantic rift opens
The return of idiosyncratic risk at the wide end of US and European high yield markets has put index equity tranches for the two jurisdictions on noticeably divergent paths, say correlation traders

Millennium senior tranche trader jumps to Verition
An experienced synthetic structured credit trader has left Millennium Management in New York to join Greenwich headquartered Verition Fund Management

Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

Structured credit dragged very wide — but CLOs stand to gain
Senior tranches of securitisations widened 220% in less than a month as the coronavirus pandemic has meant an increase in systemic risk — a sharp turnaround from the past few months when idiosyncratic risks were being cited as the main concern for structured credit investors.

Arrival of five-year bespokes draws in CLO investors
Synthetic bespoke tranches are undergoing a major shift, with dealers projecting five-year business to supersede previously dominant shorter tenors by the end of 2019.

SEC charges ex-Nomura CMBS traders with fraud
The SEC yesterday said that two former Nomura CMBS traders, James Im and Kee Chan, misrepresented price information to clients in trades where they were acting as intermediaries

Ex-Bear credit sales specialist sets up home in Brownstone
New York-based broker Brownstone Investment Group has hired a senior credit sales specialist, according to well placed sources