Former Zais CLO portfolio manager joins Sancus
Sancus Capital Management has hired a CLO business development head and portfolio manager from Zais Group

US managers recalibrate as Euro CLO portfolio spreads rise: Moody's
CLO managers have had to readjust this year and data from Moody’s Investor Services shows weighted average rating factor scores for all US CLOs have held steady, while weighted average spreads have dropped 0.15%

Zais CLO management figurehead leaves after nearly a decade
Zais's leveraged finance business head has parted ways with the firm

Sofr, so complicated
At Creditflux’s US CLO Summit debate centred on Libor and Sofr. Hot topics included tenors, Libor floors being out-of-the money and investors changing their views on spread adjustments

Attack-minded CLO managers capitalise on bearish outlook
Some of the most aggressive CLO managers have benefited from loan market volatility in March after having tweaked their portfolios in the months beforehand

High stakes promise big year for new short-dated CSOs
The bespoke tranche market looks set to put in revitalised issuance numbers in 2022 as interest grows in structured assets. But a clear trend is emerging for investors to assume short-dated exposure amid increasing macro and geopolitical uncertainty

Traders eye expensive options as they look to get creative
Credit market volatility trades may look exceptionally expensive, but that is not stopping them being a prized tool for investors on a number of fronts — from hedging longer-term macro risks, through pre-March index roll positioning, to cross-asset relative value plays

CLOs at a glance (February 2022)
A listing of CLOs that have priced in the last month

Zais scores first for new issue CLOs under Sofr regime
Zais Group has priced what sources say could be the first five-year new issue broadly syndicated loan reinvesting CLO issue of 2022 

ESG template fires up hopes of CSO issuance
2021 may not have been a year of big volume in the synthetic bespoke market, but primary business is back, and decisive inroads into environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused issuance bode well for 2022

Zais and BNP Paribas strike ESG breakthrough with climate change CSO
The growing theme of environmental, social and governance standards helping to revitalise the market for collateralised synthetic obligations appears to have taken a big step forward, with Zais Group and BNP Paribas partnering on a first-of-its-kind deal that could lay a template for future transactions

Zais CLO reset prices wide of market, but strong portfolio boosts junior tranches
Zais Group has followed up its new issue CLO last month by resetting a 2020 CLO, sources say. Just like Zais CLO 17, the reset Zais 16 was arranged by Jefferies, and again priced substantially wide of market averages. However, the junior notes priced in line with, and at times tighter than, Zais 17 – perhaps reflecting the strong positioning of Zais 16’s portfolio.

Zais CLO employs unusual triple A debt structure
Zais Group teamed up with Jefferies on Thursday to print its first new CLO in over 12 months

The growing role of data in CLO management
The complexity of managing a CLO has made it as much an art as a science, but new technologies are sweeping into the market, according to speakers on a Virtus roundtable discussion.

Zais prices wide of the market with reset of post-covid CLO
Zais Group on Thursday became the 30th manager to reset a post-covid CLO, teaming up with Jefferies to rework Zais CLO 15 from June 2020 and renewing the deal's reinvestment period for three years

US CLO pricing lab: expensive legacy deals take priority as two-three year point on term curve tightens
The US CLO market may have gapped out in recent weeks, but expensive 2019 and covid-era CLO refis and resets are still in the money

Global CLO trading lab: Octagon CLO comes out top in CLO double B spike
Double B-rated bonds made up 40% of the European and US CLO secondary markets last week. $222 million of US CLO double B bonds were on sale and a further €105 million of European CLO double B items were listed

CSOs and index tranches reach sticking point as correlation gets rich
Credit correlation trading looks to have reached a point of inflexion, as the previous bull run at the lower end of index capital stacks has given way to caution over how much further spread compression can go. At the same time, bespoke tranche business is gaining interest but equity remains stickier to sell at the market's ultra-low spread and volatility levels

GoldenTree and Zais print US CLO refis
The CLO market absorbed $1.07 billion of refinancings on Friday as GoldenTree Loan Management and Zais Group became the latest managers to cut funding costs

CLO pipeline: Carlyle eyes fourth new issue in two months but refis and resets dominate
Manager focus has shifted to reworking vintage CLOs to lower funding costs in a much tighter market, with the new issue US market having slowed

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

Global CLO b-wic round-up: equity trades break new records as investors look to redeploy cash
The CLO secondary market is experiencing heavy churn with €273.5 million of European CLO paper and $1.05 billion of US CLOs listed last week. Within that supply, a record trade for a 2.0 European CLO equty tranche was recorded 

Zais refis triple A notes of post-reinvestment CLO at 125bp
Zais Group has refinanced the triple A notes of its 2016 CLO, named Zais CLO 5, that left reinvestment in October

Fund performance: CLO funds keep up momentum as Napier Park finishes top
2020 ended with funds in our CLOs category taking the top few spots

Managers brave covid-hit sectors to drum up returns
Price dislocations among companies operating in industries affected by covid-19 mean they may offer some of the best opportunities for CLO managers and CSO investors — and sources say that neglecting these sectors could hurt performance