Refi deluge casts shadow on b-wics

Still plenty more fish in the triple C

CLO wormhole opens as deal pricing blurs
The CLO prints you see today might have happened a month ago. No, we’re not travelling back in time. Instead, a trend toward locking in senior notes a month early is skewing market pricing

Coronavirus tiers up old ranking script
Forget everything you thought you knew about CLO manager tiers. Apollo and Blackstone are mainstays, but smaller, more nimble issuers are finding new ways to stand out from the crowd

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 come up smelling of roses
The coronavirus crisis could have cut back 10 years of CLO market progress, but investors’ foresight, trading chops and flexibility meant many saw their strategies blossom during 2020  

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

Waiting for afters
Day one arb remains important, but last year there were opportunities aplenty in the secondary market, which put the onus on printing CLOs and waiting for the day after non-call periods expired

We were battered in 2020 — but we weren’t beaten
The CLO industry has survived a year blighted by covid-19. We talk to portfolio managers about the strengths of CLOs and preparations for what was expected to be a ‘cataclysmic’ recession

Still weighed down by 2015 oil price slump
It’s three years since the depths of the oil crisis but offshore service companies — such as the helicopter businesses that transport workers to oil rigs — are not seeing lift-off in prices or profits

Rolling the dice on Turkey and Italy
Gambling specialists with operations around the Mediterranean are facing political risks and currency falls – but there are opportunities to hit the jackpot if investors play their cards right

Steelmakers forge links in face of overcapacity

Which flavour do you favour?
We asked four direct lenders for their opinions on four fictional European borrowers operating in software, food, consumer loans and retail – and found they had similar tastes.

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

Heavy equipment suppliers: slowly crawling out of the mud
There are tentative signs that heavy equipment manufacturers are finally pulling themselves out of the mire

Container shipping: Struggling to stay afloat
Debt and overcapacity mean container shippers must consolidate fast to avoid further wrecks

Theme parks: scream if you want to go tighter
Investing in theme park debt is like taking a rollercoaster ride. Lately it’s been a thrill, but there are always ups and downs

Fertiliser production: Caught in a bleak midwinter
Fertiliser makers have invested to prepare for growth – but the outlook is wintry and their cash is dwindling.

Residential mortgages: Servicers feel regulatory chill
Intervention by regulators and a lack of new assets is freezing growth among US distressed mortgage servicers

Credit spotlight - Lean, mean driving machines
After paring down fleets and cutting costs in 2008, car rental companies have recently posted strong earnings and most could now make profits even in a recession