Two roads diverged in the CLO wood

Lenders turn to quality over quantity

Investors go first in lien at loan queue

CLO managers went to CCC, to see what they could CCC…

Investors seek oasis as new issues dry up

Market rallies as key CLO investor retreats

CLO investors should be looking at CSOs

Anti-ageing elixir gives CLOs 10-year lifespan

Budge up, more new managers are coming

Seriously, the CLO arb is difficult right now

CLOs at a glance

A round-up of CLO performance

High yield bonds regain lost ground

Managers slide down term curve
PGIM and Voya were among managers issuing short dated deals in the first quarter. These CLOs, along with a surge in b-wics, kept up the supply of short dated paper as refinancings fell away

It’s possible to be big — and still be picky
Our analysis of 2018 CLOs shows that firms such as Credit Suisse Asset Management and Sound Point Capital Management have built loan portfolios that are different to the rest of the market.

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

We can’t hide it any longer, we’re tiering up
With the opening months of 2019 highlighting a clear class system among CLO managers, there has never been a better time to assess tiering. We find that timing, patience and luck all play a role

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
 

Keep calm and buy corporate loans
Calm heads prevailed in 2018. Markets were volatile and risk retention was supposed to cause problems, but there was no need to panic and volumes went on to break records set in 2014

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

After early crescendo CLOs end on flat note
Huge issuance and the end of risk retention ensured the US CLO industry was buoyant in early 2018, but later in the year the term curve flattened, pricing levels became sporadic and volumes dwindled

Europe adapts to harsher CLO climate
The European CLO market survived the financial crisis and ensuing risk retention obligations. Conditions remain tough, but we expect a 25% increase in the number of active managers

Widening whisks market back to 2017
Right now, CLO volumes are healthy and the list of active managers is steadily growing. But with CLO liability spreads reverting to where they were a year ago, some issuers are a little nervous.

Time to reprice? Then compare the market
CLOs no longer fizzle out. Instead, they go through multiple repricings, where, with stakes lower and deadlines tighter than when they were issued, their managers can try alternative arrangers