We’re drifting apart
Everyone’s issuing US CLOs these days and it is tempting to believe the crowd of managers is blending into one. However, overall portfolio overlap has dropped to 37.7% across 2021 CLOs  

Lighten up, these are due an upgrade
CLO triple C buckets were overflowing last year, but the average exposure is now 7.3%. That is still close to trigger levels, but CLO managers are relaxed, as further loan upgrades are on the horizon

Woah, we’re halfway there
Judging by the 2020 vintage, European CLO overlap is 50%. But varied approaches to holding bonds and the many loans managers turn down mean there are ways for issuers to outperform

CLOs wheel and deal as overlap increases
2020 CLOs are a different breed to any other vintage. But this cohort features an overlap of almost 40% as CLO issuers have been forced to focus almost entirely on secondary market loans

Loan slump brings managers closer
A 19% slide in new US loan volumes last year has left CLO managers with fewer options in the primary market, and portfolio overlap between US managers has increased to 35.3% on average

Europe’s newcomers find ways to stand out
Last year’s new European CLO managers needed to provide something different for investors. In general, they’ve succeeded, with Capital Four having one of the smallest overlap figures in our data

A different kind of crisis
Panellists on Creditflux’s US CLO webinar were positive about the robustness of CLO structures and the role of cure contributions. But they warned about zombie defaults and gaming tests

We’ve survived before, we can do so again

Repricing spike points to sharp spread compression

Lenders turn to quality over quantity

Investors go first in lien at loan queue

Investors seek oasis as new issues dry up

Budge up, more new managers are coming

High yield bonds regain lost ground

Large, liquid loans aren’t always perfect
CLOs could be forgiven for rushing to buy Refinitiv loans — after all it was the biggest LBO since the crisis. But some large managers have abstained, while others have bought opportunistically

Moving on from the late 2018 hangover
It might be too early to call a full recovery, but it’s fair to say that the US loan market is back on track with $48 billion of institutional issuance in 2019 — 88% of which is made up of new issues

Loans recover slightly after late-2018 havoc
Secondary loan prices have ticked higher this year, although they are still some way off the levels reached before the fourth quarter slump. However, M&As are starting to fill the new issue pipeline
 

Retail fund pain is a CLO manager’s gain
Retail funds dumped loans in record volumes late in 2018, creating ideal conditions for CLOs to capitalise with performing credits available in the mid-90s for the first time in years

Loan volumes fall in Europe but rise in US
European CLO managers seem to be eating into the loan market with more appetite than their, US counterparts, who are perhaps spoiled for choice. But background risks lurk in both markets

Libor rise gives timely boost to US loan yields
Competition for US loans among CLOs, ETFs and mutual funds is keeping margins in check. However, the 60bp increase in Libor in Q1 means there’s still reason to pile into the loan market

Spotlight: Local exchange carriers - calling for rescue on the M&A hotline
Growth-starved US phone companies are seeing consolidation as the best way to improve performance