US borrowers try again with high-water mark provisions
In the US, high-water marking of EBITDA was rebuffed back in 2022. But the concept has been used regularly in Europe and US borrowers are once again slipping it into credit agreements

Should I worry about synthetic Libor?
The date on which the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) will cease publishing the remaining available tenors of Libor is fast approaching. But initially, publication of all tenors of Libor was supposed to cease on 31 December 2021. 

CLO funds make best of a bad situation
It can’t get any worse can it? Well, it did in 2022, when credit spreads kept moving wider. Still, CLO funds were able to withstand the pressure, and they outperformed other credit strategies

What matters is what you do with it
CLO managers yearn for flexibility so they can take advantage when credit sells off. But it isn’t enough on its own: triple C-flex CLOs saw portfolios erode this year, while CBOs outperformed

You seem familiar
The overlap between European CLOs has risen to 51.6%, but the largest issuers are only slightly more aligned to their peers at 55.19% — so bonds are proving to be an important differentiator

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  

Still plenty more fish in the triple C

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

Moving fast pays off for hedge funds
2020 was an up and down year in credit, and credit hedge fund managers had to move quickly to capture opportunities from the dislocations that inevitably opened up

Steelmakers forge links in face of overcapacity

Payday: Investors go for broke on regulatory bet
New regulations could seriously hamper US payday lenders – but bond holders are betting the rules won’t be enacted

Spotlight: Satellite operators - sending signals of distress
Satellite operators are trying to transmit optimistic messages – but they admit that prices for data services are falling

US fashion stores: queueing up to exchange old debt
Fashionably loose covenants are allowing under-pressure retailers to turn expensive unsecured debt into senior notes