CLOs

  • Euro ABS treading water

    The summer was expected to be quiet for European ABS and that is how it has proved so far. The last week has not seen a lot of activity, although that is not down to a lack of potential buyers.

    "There is a lot of buying interest in the market right now, but it is not translating into a lot .......

    Market Reports 26 July 2012

  • Board appointments at CLO manager

    Avoca Capital Holdings has made two board appointments. Darren Carter joins as non-executive director and Clayton Perry becomes executive director.

    Carter was formerly ceo of KBC Financial Products and is an existing partner and non-executive chairman of Avoca's convertible bonds business. Perry has been with Avoca for two years and has overall responsibility for business development across all of Avoca's .......

    Job Swaps 25 July 2012

  • Mezz ABS fund minted

    Prytania Investment Advisors has launched the Galene Fund, an actively managed fund focusing on investment grade structured finance assets. It aims to build a diversified portfolio generating a stable yet attractive return in excess of 450bp over one-month Euribor per annum.

    The fund seeks to exploit the attractive risk-adjusted return of ABS through relative value opportunities, mispriced risks and identification .......

    News Round-up 23 July 2012

  • Italian sovereign-linked ratings hit

    Moody's has downgraded the ratings of 11 tranches in seven Italian ABS, due to their direct linkage to the ratings of the Italian sovereign and sub-sovereigns. The move follows the downgrade of Italy to Baa2 from A3 on 13 July and subsequent downgrades of 23 sub-sovereign entities on 16 July.

    The Italian government and several of the downgraded Italian regions .......

    News Round-up 23 July 2012

  • Call for CLO standardisation

    The standardisation of defined terms and structural features in future CLOs could speed the primary issuance process, says Fitch. The agency believes there will also be a knock-on benefit for the secondary market, where due diligence requirements would be lower and valuations would be easier to understand.

    Fitch notes that CLO documentation is currently particular to each deal, with bankers .......

    News Round-up 20 July 2012

  • Alternative credit group joins

    THL Credit Advisors has completed the acquisition of McDonnell Investment Management's alternative credit strategies group. The team of James Fellows, Brian Good, Robert Hickey and Michael Herzig will now join THL's capital markets investment business and lead its credit senior loan strategies group.

    Fellows joins as a co-head, md and senior portfolio manager. He has more than 24 years of .......

    Job Swaps 13 July 2012

  • CLO specialist joins law firm

    Perry Sayles has joined McDermott Will & Emery in New York. He becomes financial institutions partner.

    Sayles has broad experience of derivatives, securitisation and structured products transactions as well as traditional corporate finance, project finance and acquisition finance. He specialises in CLOs and CDOs.

    .......

    Job Swaps 12 July 2012

  • CLO modelling error corrected

    Moody's has placed 78 tranches from 15 European CLOs, currently rated Aa1 and below, on review for upgrade and upgraded two further tranches. The actions reflect a correction to the rating model the agency used for these transactions, as well as the generally stable performance of the affected tranches since the last rating action in 2011.

    Prior to the correction, .......

    News Round-up 11 July 2012

  • ED private placement completed

    European DataWarehouse (ED) has successfully completed a private placement with 15 key investors, consisting largely of global banks and institutions. The placement was coordinated by Perella Weinberg Partners.

    Proceeds from the placement will be used to finalise the build-out of ED, as well as to provide the business with ongoing working capital. Completion of the platform, which will include an .......

    News Round-up 9 July 2012

  • Volatility 'top concern' for CLO investors

    Spread volatility has emerged as the top concern for respondents to JPMorgan's latest CLO client survey, which CDO strategists at the bank say is to be expected, given the pick-up in macro volatility. Regulatory reform dropped from this spot in prior surveys to third place, perhaps due to 'regulatory fatigue'.

    The second most-cited concern was collateral defaults/distress - although if .......

    News 5 July 2012

  • Spanish SME CLO ratings resilient

    Spanish SME CLO ratings are resilient in scenarios where the collateral performance significantly deteriorates but sovereign or counterparty risk does not increase, according to Fitch. This is despite the transactions' exposure to the real estate sector.

    Under a severe stress, no losses are expected for double-A minus tranches, the highest rating achievable for Spanish structured finance transactions. "Spanish SME CLOs .......

    News Round-up 5 July 2012

  • Invesco trio disclosed

    Three of the seven Invesco Asset Management CLOs being acquired by 3i Debt Management Investments (SCI 31 May) have been identified as Invesco Coniston, Invesco Mezzano and Invesco Garda. A purchase and sale agreement has been entered into by the two firms in connection with the transactions. The sale is expected to be completed on 27 October, subject to the .......

    Job Swaps 4 July 2012

  • Pricing power

    US CLO manager tiering emerges

    Pricing power in the US CLO market appears to have shifted firmly towards the buy-side over recent weeks, with increased differentiation emerging between managers. At the same time, the pipeline has slowed due to the strength of the new issue market.

    "Issuance has been strong from top-tier CLO managers over the last quarter; now, second-tier managers are trying to come .......

    News Analysis 2 July 2012

  • SF trading head named

    Laila Kollmorgen has joined Raymond James Financial as head of European structured finance trading. She was previously md and head of European ABS/CDO trading at Cohen & Company and head of secondary ABS trading at BNP Paribas.

    .......

    Job Swaps 29 June 2012

  • CLO business development role filled

    Black Diamond Capital Management has appointed Jean Fleischhacker as senior md, business development. In her new role, Fleischhacker will lead the structuring and marketing for CLOs, other structured products and mezzanine debt, as well as head new product development.

    Fleischhacker will be based in the firm's Greenwich, Connecticut office, working alongside Michael Moreno, head of marketing and investor relations and .......

    Job Swaps 29 June 2012

  • SF natural hedging examined

    The number of European structured finance deals that use swaps to hedge interest rate mismatches may decrease as hedging costs rise and the number of eligible counterparties drops, Fitch suggests. This reduces the counterparty risk but can place more emphasis on credit enhancement if the resulting interest rate risk is not adequately mitigated, for example through natural hedges.

    Various techniques .......

    News Round-up 27 June 2012

  • MBS, rates team expanded

    Zachary Pace, Aaron Read and Tai Vu have joined Gleacher & Company Securities' MBS and rates group. The group provides structured finance, research, sales and trading services on RMBS, ABS, US Treasury and government agency securities, CLOs, CDOs and other securities.

    Pace and Read join as directors while Vu becomes vp. Pace joins from Bank of America where he was .......

    Job Swaps 18 June 2012

  • Reduced CLO trading activity seen

    Managers of rated US CLOs reduced their trading activity again in 1Q12, furthering a trend that began four quarters ago, according to S&P. Part of the declining activity can be attributed to CLOs exiting their reinvestment periods over the last 12 months, which has generally limited their managers' ability to reinvest.

    US CLO managers executed about US$6.2bn in trades in .......

    News Round-up 18 June 2012

  • Par building benefits outlined

    CLO strategists at RBS have introduced a 'change in par' calculation, which measures the change in the par value of CLO assets - including cash - since inception. They believe it offers more of a like-for-like comparison than overcollateralisation tests.

    The 'change in par' calculation aims to address the natural reduction in the collateral pool due to liability amortisation by .......

    News 15 June 2012

  • Bellis moves to the buy-side

    3i Debt Management has appointed Andrew Bellis as md and partner, reporting to Jeremy Ghose, managing partner and ceo of the firm. In his new role, Bellis will be responsible for 3i DM's strategic growth globally, reinforcing its ambition to grow in core and emerging markets and to play a leading role in consolidating attractive opportunities in Europe and North .......

    Job Swaps 14 June 2012

  • Retrenchment rules

    CDO technology harnessed for funding purposes

    A profound shift in how large cap credit is provided in Europe is underway, having historically been dominated by banks. While the trend is helping to suppress traditional CLO issuance for now, CDO technology more broadly is still being harnessed for funding purposes.

    "In general, any class of credit where banks dominated is now seeing elevated spreads, which are required .......

    News Analysis 7 June 2012
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