Market Commentaries



Eur/GBP

USD  

 

Feedback on Commentaries and Analysis is welcome
Sheil Aggarwal


select * from bbg_commentary where 1=1 order by date desc
  • 21 July 2022

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    $45m of liquidity across 22 mezz trades, US LL Index continues to rebound and is +34bp dod.  AA trade 265dm-312dm with our AA Index 270dm with trades wide of the index driven by longer wal / reinvestment period remaining.  At single-A the trading range is 330dm-368dm wrapped around our single-A Index 350dm, the outlier trade is DRSLF 2018-55A C CVR 91.8 at 414dm / 4.3y WAL – very high ADR 1.9, MVOC <110 at 109.8 and a low Jnr OC cushion 2.7 all despite the shorter wal (EoRP 2023).  BBB trade in a very wide dispersion 453dm-790dm with our BBB Index 501dm, bonds wide of the index are driven primarily by MVOC which are <104 with bonds around/tight to the index with MVOCs in the 105 area.  At the wide end is Marble Point’s MP11 2017-2A D CVR 81.2 at 790dm / 4.8y WAL with a short reinvestment period remaining (Jan-23) but cuspy MVOC 100.6, downgraded to BB and an elevated ADR 1.1.  BB trade 863dm-1175dm with our BB Index 885dm, 2 bonds well wide of the index (1119-1175dm) have a MVOC shortfall (circa 2pts) and as such trade well wide of the index, at the wide end is OCP 2014-5A DR CVR 77.35 at 1175dm / 5.6y WAL – ADR 1.4 but MVOC 97.7 and a lower coupon +570bps so risk adjusted return is weak.


  • 20 July 2022

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    With the SF Vegas Conference there are only 3 x BBB trades today with a dm range 485dm-531dm with our BBB Index 513dm, US LL Index +55bp dod.  Best execution is BCC 2022-2A D1 CVR 91.9 at 492dm / 8.9y WAL – EoRP 2027 (NC 2024 / margin +365bps) and with clean 3.0 metrics from a benchmark manager Bain Cap.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The only single A bond, NEWH 2X CR, traded at 399dm. This is about 30bps firmer than we have been seeing of late but then it has exited its RPE period and is only 4yrs WAL.

    BBBs also have a firmer tone with an average traded spread of 640dm, about 20 – 30 bps tighter.


  • 19 July 2022

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are a bunch of AAA trades today at an average spread of 265dm. This is where AAA secondary spreads have been hanging out for about a week now.


  • 18 July 2022

    EUR AAA CLO

    Just 4 x AAA trades today in Las Vegas conference week. The average traded spread is 261dm. Noteworthy is the OHECP 2015-3X A1R trade at 279dm which looks cheap given it has substantially delevered, has a 184% MVOC and only a 1.1yr WAL.


  • 14 July 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    Larger ticket sizes today, 32 trades and $180m of liquidity.  CLO spreads overall stable and US LL Index +1bp dod.  AAA trade 180dm-248dm with a large handful of trades >200dm with the demographics of these weaker from a credit point of view and weaker OC cushions.  Our AAA Index is 182dm which is representative of benchmark levels with clean metrics, whilst Manager profiles continue to influence the direction of AAA bonds.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 281dm-382dm well wide of our AA Index 268dm, the bonds that trade today have elevated ADRs and lower Jnr OC cushions at the wide end of the dm range with these beginning to normalise as you get closer to our index level.  Single-A trade 326dm-425dm with our single-A Index 345dm, there are two bonds north of 400dm which are essentially driven by either higher margin scaling (no credit/MV issues) or weaker MV metrics/cushion.   Benchmark bonds trade 326dm-383dm which is wrapped around our index level.  2 x BBB trade 745dm-760dm (BBB Index 524dm) with weak profiles – both downgraded to current BB, MVOC <106 with the weaker bond in terms of cash px OZLM 2017-16X C CVR 85.19 at 745dm / 4.9y WAL where ADR is high 1.4, Sub80 high 5.4, post reinvestment and Jnr OC cushion low at 2.2.  1 x BB trade SNDPT 2015-1RA R2D2 cover 83.5 at 980dm / 4.8y WAL wide to our BB Index 877dm given the elevated ADR 1.4, high Sub80 5.5, cuspy MVOC 100.5, cuspy Jnr OC cushion 0.8 and the bond is post reinvestment so cannot be proactively cured.

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are 3 x AAA trades today. PSTET 2021-2X A, a static deal by Palmer Square Capital, traded particularly wide at 95.77 / 311dm. The other two more regular managed deals traded around 270dm which is still wider again than the 250a we had been seeing in secondary.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The 2 x single A bonds have traded around 438dm which is a slightly firmer tone for this rating category.


  • 13 July 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $75m of supply today across high grade, US LL Index +10bp dod with CLO spreads stable.  AAA trade 176dm-207dm with our AAA Index 181dm, with the wide end of this range CIFC 2017-3X A1 207dm / 2.1y WAL driven keenly by the lower MVOC 140 and scaled to a lesser extent by the higher coupon +122bps. 

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 308dm-315dm which are far higher than our AA Index 266dm, OZLMF 2013-4A A2R CVR 95.61 at 308dm / 3.6y WAL has some credit (ADR 1.1, Jnr OC cushion 0.7) and MV weakness (121.3) whilst CIFC 2013-1X A2R CVR 95.84 at 315dm / 3.3y WAL also has an elevated ADR 1%, high Sub80 3.7 and similar MVOC 121.9 but has a stronger Jnr OC cushion (but in general AAs aren’t too sensitive to Jnr OC cushions) whilst both bonds are close to their end of reinvestment periods so won’t have the benefit to managing out of this inflationary environment.  Single-A trade 354dm-384dm with our single-A Index 358dm, both bonds that trade wide to the index are scaled by their high coupons (+250bps) and not credit or NAV metrics with other single-A carrying coupons in the late 100s context.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The only BBB trade, CGMSE 2017-2X C, traded quite wide at M86h / 668dm. This could be a case of secondary spreads widening to meet the BBB talk on Jubilee XXVI.

    The BB trades are around 1119dm. In this case BB secondary spreads are still hanging out there and not coming in to meet the Jubilee XXVI px talk.

    Single Bs have traded around 1513dm. These spreads have been above 1500a for some time now. The last known px talk on Jubilee XXVI is 1250a.


  • 12 July 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $120m of trading today across the stack, spreads remain choppy within certain lower rating categories as NAVs are stretched, US LL Index +13bp dod.  AAA trade in a wide dispersion 161dm-203dm wrapped around our AAA Index 182dm.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    Significant AA supply today with $52m of liquidity across 19 trades with a dm range 257dm-379dm with our AA Index 266dm, at the wider end manager profiles are scaling the dm wider with the exception of OAKCL 2018-1A A2 which covers at the lowest price 92.78 at 379dm / 4.3y WAL – high ADR 1.5, high Sub80 4.6, low MVOC 119.3 and cuspy Jnr OC cushion 1.8.  Single-A trade 354dm-416dm with our single-A Index 352dm, trades are around the index with one outlier ARES 2018-28RA C CVR 91.85 at 416dm / 4.8y WAL – elevated ADR 1.2, high Sub80 4%, low MVOC 110.1 and Jnr OC cushion 0.8.  At BBB the trading dispersion is 467dm-556dm with our BBB Index 524dm.  At the BB level the dispersion is extremely wide with NAVs stretching MVOCs below 100m trading levels are 875dm-1581dm with our BB Index 877dm, trades with an MVOC with at least a 2pt cushion to par trade near our index with those trades around/below par well wide to the index with a cliff effect on dm, at the wide end is OFSBS 2017-1X E CVR 72.61 at 1581dm / 4.3y WAL – Sub80 bucket is high at 5.8 which correlates to a low MVOC 98.1 and low Jnr OC cushion 1.7 with this bond already downgraded to single-B.

    EUR AAA CLO

    Just the one AAA trade today. CORDA 10X A1 traded at 96.88 / 248dm which is wider than expected given that it has exited its RPE period and is only 1.85 yrs mat.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The 2 x single A trades have fairly different traded spreads. CADOG 12X C traded at 487dm and CRWPK 1X B1R at 443dm. CRWPK 1X B1R is 2 years longer but traded tighter. Additionally it has 1.5pts less of MVOC, which does put it in the bottom quartile for EUR single A bonds, but then they both have good Junior OC cushions. CADOG 12X C first became callable 2 years ago while CRWPK 1X B1R becomes callable soon. It seems that the only explanation for the 44bps tighter level of CRWPK 1X B1R is that there is still some refi possibility being priced in by the market for deals yet to reach their non-call end date.


  • 11 July 2022

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    $44m of supply today, predominantly low mezz, US LL Index +21bp dod.  1 x AA trade GRIPP 2017-1A B CVR 96.58 at 298dm / 2.8y WAL – post reinvestment bond which trades wide to our AA Index 263dm.  BBB trade 519dm-642dm with NAVs drifting the execution levels reflect with our BBB Index 546dm, the majority of bonds trade today wide of this given their high coupons (>300bps), eg. MP8 2015-2A DRR CVR 84.75 at 618dm / 8.2y WAL (EoRP 2026) – MVOC 106.8, coupon +350bps and Sub80 elevated 3.3 with other metrics clean.  BB trade in a very wide dispersion given the mix of bonds have extremely cuspy MVOCs 916dm-1418dm, with a MM CLO MCMML 2019-2A E CVR 78.55 at 1466dm / 5.9y WAL with an MVOC 107.8 representing a significant premium on BSL BBs (our BB Index 879dm).  Best execution is AIMCO 2015-AA ER2 CVR 86.03 at 916dm / 9.2y WAL (EoRP 2026) – MVOC 100.3, coupon +660bps and metrics clean.

    EUR AAA CLO

    For the first trading session in a long time AAA spreads have tightened. Today’s AAA trades are around 242dm (was 254dm yesterday). In spite of today’s rally we can see how much the market has moved recently because HNLY 1X AR traded today at 93.80 / 238dm but also last traded on 23rd June at 95.20. In the new issue market revised price talk has been released for Jubilee XXVI. The AAA tranche is talked at L200s now (from 160a only recently) which is now a lot more realistic (see SCI CLO Markets for all the details).

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The one BBB trade, BLUME 2021-1X D, has traded at 85.57 / 595dm. This is unchanged on recent days. Jubilee XXVI compares well at this rating, being talked at 675a.

    BB bonds have traded around 1137dm. This is probably weaker than the levels we last saw about 10 days ago. Jubilee XXVI is talked at 975a which looks like it might not be enough.

    Single Bs have traded around 1550dm. The last single B trades via BWIC were around the middle of June in 1400a. Jubilee XXVI is talked at 1250a, which also does not look enough.


  • 8 July 2022

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are 2 x AAA trades today, at around 254dm. It looks like the 250a spread levels of yesterday was not a one-off. If anything these levels are wider than they appear versus yesterday because both bonds are very short (JUBIL 2017-18X A is one year past its RPE date).


  • 7 July 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    A heavy day of liquidity with around $250m exchanging hands predominantly IG, US LL Index bounces +24bp dod with some positive signals in the broader market.  More than half of today’s liquidity is from AAA which trades 174dm-209dm with our AAA Index 178dm, a number of trades with dm’s north of 200dm are down to high margin scaling as opposed to credit.  Best execution is a trade near our index level NEUB 2021-40A A CVR 97.64 at 180dm / 3.5y WAL (EoRP 2024) – clean metrics, strong MVOC 151.2, +106bps margin and a benchmark name Neuberger.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 256dm-278dm with our AA Index 271dm, there is an outlier trade OZLMF 2013-4A A2R (Sculptor) CVR 95.05 at 325dm / 3.6y WAL – this bond is nearing the end of it’s reinvestment period (Oct-22), has an elevated ADR 1.1 but most pertinently the Jnr OC cushion is cuspy 0.67 so this does impact upon execution.  Single-A trade 353dm-380dm which are wide to our single-A Index 344dm, ADR’s on both trades are elevated at 1%, Sub80 bucket high at 3%+. MVOCs are at the lower end and Jnr OC cushions at 2-3% so in the lower/mid percentile.  BBB trade in a very wide dispersion 465dm-838dm with our BBB Index 472dm, with NAVs volatile the impact that lower MVOCs has on execution is pronounced with trades wide to our index accounted for by higher coupon bonds for the main part scaled further by MVOCs which are 104 or lower versus trades around the index with healthier MVOCs in 106-108 area.  BB trade 843dm-877dm wrapped around our BB Index 867dm, there is one outlier trade GALXY 2017-24A E CVR 80.5 at 1070dm / 5.4y WAL (Pinebridge) EoRP 2023, the MVOC is cuspy 100.5 and a low coupon +550bps so this does impact upon execution given the risk adjusted return is lower than competing bonds.

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are only 2 x AAA trades today but they both evidence that AAA spreads have gapped out again. The average cover spread is an eye-watering 249dm. This is around 30bps wider than the previous levels seen.


  • 6 July 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $180m of much needed liquidity after the holiday weekend, spreads have a firmer feel whilst US LL Index -7bp dod.  AAA trade 169dm-204dm with our AAA Index 178dm, best execution is CRBN 2017-1A A1 CVR 98.35 at 184dm / 2.5y WAL (Invesco) – coupon +114bps, clean metrics and short wal whilst longer wal bonds in same dm context trade 2pts lower with stronger MVOC metrics (+6-12pts) and similar coupons. 

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    2 x Single-As trade 320dm-364dm wrapped around our single-A Index 336dm with a shorter wal (-3y) bond only 0.7pts more expensive with similar profile credit/MV metrics and coupon structure.  BB trade in a very wide dispersion given the volatility in NAVs meaning many bonds have cuspy MVOCs dm range is 841dm-1138dm with our BB Index towards the lower end of this range at 869dm.  There is tiering with bonds with MVOC >102 trading around the BB Index level with the remainder with MVOC 100-102 trading north of 1000dm.  At the wider end is KKR 14 ER CVR 80.00 at 1138dm / 5.6y WAL with MVOC 100.3 and otherwise reasonable credit metrics and strong JNr OC cushion 4.7.


  • 5 July 2022

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are 3 x AAA trades today. CORDA 5X ARR is the only one from an amortising deal and this traded at 209dm. The other two trades, which have not reached their RPE date yet, traded around 228dm.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    There is just one AA trade. HARVT 23X B1 traded at 337dm. We note its MVOC has fallen massively, to only 125.31%, a reflection of MVOC moves across all deals. AA spreads look unchanged for the last few days.

    The 2 x single A trades have traded around 450dm. This is a widening from the 425a we had seen previously.

    The 4 x BBB trades have traded around 587dm. The tightest trade is BECLO 11X D at 582dm even though it has the lowest MVOC at 105.50% (average for the 4 trades is 106.73%). BBB spreads look unchanged to slightly firmer.


  • 30 June 2022

    EUR AAA CLO

    Just one AAA trade today. SNDPE 7X A traded at a new wide of 220dm / 93h. This is fairly recently issued, has a 2027 RPE and a 6yr WAL. The last few days we have been around +210 for AAA.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The 6 x BBB trades are at an average spread of +595. This is about 20bps wider than the previous day. Cover prices are clustered around 85a.

    The 2 x BB trades are around 1059dm. Superficially this doesn’t look much changed from the previous day’s +1054 levels but both these trades are from deals in amortisation and are short BBs at around 5.5yrs. So, again, these levels soft on the day.


  • 29 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    Muted liquidity today given the holiday weekend looming and month end with %16m exchanging hands, spreads stable but US LL Index drops 37bp dod.  3 x AAA trade 182dm-188dm which is more or less centred around our AAA Index 182dm.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    BB trade 868dm-887dm with our BB Index 867dm, there is one outlier trade ARES 2018-49A ECVR 83.15 at 983dm / 5.9y WAL - low coupon +570bps, lower Jnr OC cushion percentile 2.9, elevated Sub80 bucket 4% but the MVOC is the key driver here on execution level given it is close to 100 at 100.62.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    There are 3 x single A trades at an average spread of +430 / 90.00 price. This is about 15bps wider on the previous day.

    The 3 x BBB trades are around 573dm. This also reflects the steady and continuous widening we have seen since Barcelona.

    The 6 x BB trades are at around +1054 / 77h price. BCCE 2018-1X E has reached the end of its RPE but still the MVOC and Jnr OC cushion are low and this reflected in its cvr price of 75.31 / 1111dm.


  • 28 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $87m of liquidity across senior and mezz with some softening in senior mezz as US LL Index -13bp dod.  AAA trade 176dm-207dm with our AAA Index 181dm.  There are two x shorter dated MM CLO AAAs that trade 253dm-256dm.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 264dm-324dm with the AA Index 265dm with some softening feel, best execution is AGL 2019-2A B CVR 95.55 at 296dm / 4.9y WAL – EoRP 2024, high coupon +190bps and clean metrics.  At single-A the trading range is 326dm-381dm centred around our single-A Index 352dm.  At BBB there are two outlier trades in the 80s cash px area with high dm’s (551/825dm) driven by credit factors / high coupon mainly with a little softer feel on the one trade that is near the index BALLY 2019-2A CR CVR 93.2 at 469dm / 5.5y WAL (EoRP Nov-22) with a coupon +315bps, strong MVOC 108 and clean metrics wide to the BBB Index 432dm.  At BB the trading dispersion is extremely wide given the impact of NAVs on MVOCs grinding towards 100.  The trading range is 799dm-1840dm with our BB Index 866dm.  At the wide end is SNDPT 2015-1RA E CVR 65 at 1840dm / 4.9y WAL – post reinv, ADR 1.4, Sub80 5.4, Jnr OC cushion cuspy 0.8 and MVOC <100 at 97.42 from Sound Point.  Best execution for a reinvesting BB is HARB 2018-1A E CVR 88.63 at 812dm / 6.4y WAL – EoRP 2024, +560bps coupon, credit metrics and cushions healthy and MVOC 103.9 which is towards the higher end.

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are 6 x AAA trades today. Their average traded spread is 209dm. Secondary AAA spreads have been consistently greater than +200 for about a week now.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    In single A’s we have 3 trades and 3 DNT’s. The 3 trades are at an average spread of +414. The 3 DNT’s were bid at an average spread of +502 and two of these are Man GLG shelves which were bid particularly wide.

    There is just one BB trade. GLGE 3X E traded at 1177dm, but this isn’t representative of generic BB spreads. The deal is not performing well and GLG bonds always trade wide.


  • 27 June 2022

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    $89m of liquidity today with a little spread softening at the BBB level, US LL Index +5bp dod.  AA trade 256dm-299dm with our AA Index 263dm, there are two outlier trades, one is CTWTR 2014-1A A2R which is well past reinvestment with CVR 99.81 with a very short wal 548dm / 0.05y WAL and the other is in reinvestment - SNDPT 2018-3A A2 CVR 93.52 at 346dm / 4.4y WAL – Jnr OC cushion is low 2.65, Sub80 is high 4.5 but MVOC is lagging at sub 120 at 119.9.  BBB trade 462dm-480dm with our BBB Index 431dm, bonds are higher coupon (+370-400bps) and longer wal (EoRP 2026) with no credit or MV issues to report.  There are two outlier trades with the wider one CGMS 2015-4A CR CVR 88.5 at 602dm / 6.7y WAL – ADR high 1.1, Sub80 3%, Jnr OC cushion low 1.8, MVOC at the lower end 106.7 with the manager’s record weaker to benchmark.  BB trade 834dm-900dm with our BB Index 868dm with no signs of widening at this level given the trade widest of the index is due to the high coupon - OCP 2020-20A E CVR 93.01 at 900dm / 8.4y WAL – strong metrics ADR 0, Sub80 1.4, Jnr OC cushion 5.3 and MVOC 104 whilst coupon is high at +766bps with EoRP 2026 and NC October this year so does reflect a good execution level.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    Just 2 x equity trades today. Both are CSAM deals. Both pieces have NAVs around zero. They have traded with a 4 handle which is around 30% yield.


  • 24 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $122m of liquidity today across senior, senior mezz and equity with spreads stable/firm and US LL Index -25bp wow.  AAA trade 184dm-198dm which are wide to our AAA Index 183dm, with the wider levels driven by credit impacted bonds / higher coupon rather than spread widening.  For instance best execution is ROCKT 2017-3A A CVR 98.11 at 198dm / 2.6y WAL (EoRP 2023) with a high coupon +119bps, clean credit and strong Jnr OC cushion 5.3 / MVOC 147.   

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 263dm-310dm with our AA Index 258dm with the array of trading in higher coupon bonds (+170-180bps) with longer wals.  Best execution TICP 2018-12A BR CVR 263dm / 7.2y WAL – EoRP 2026, clean credit, coupon +165bps, MVOC 123 and Jnr OC cushion 5.1.  Single-A trade 323dm-351dm wrapped around our single-A Index 332dm, best execution for a reinvesting bond is TICP 2017-7A CR CVR 94.35 at 323dm / 6.4y WAL (EoRP 2025) – strong MVOC 115.2, ADR 0.7, low Sub80 1.6, Jnr OC cushion 3.8, +215bps coupon and a strong manager in Sixth Street.

    EUR AAA CLO

    Just the two AAA trades today. At an average spread of +200, this is slightly firmer than the previous day’s +208.


  • 23 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $66m of liquidity today, spreads stable with US LL Index -12bp dod.  AAA trade 179dm-209dm with our AAA Index 184dm, there is an outlier trade VENTR 2018-31A A1 (EoRP 2023) CVR 97.33 at 209dm / 2.7y WAL with weaker metrics (MVOC 144, ADR 0.9, Sub80 4.5, Jnr OC cushion 2.5).  CIFC 2014-4RA A1AR covers with a lower px 96.69 at 179dm / 6.3y WAL – longer WAL (EoRP 2027), ADR is high 1.3 but MVOC is strong 150 and Jnr OC cushion is strong 5.6 whilst coupon is ‘high’ +117bps and a benchmark manager CIFC.

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    At AA the trading range is 262dm-271dm with our AA Index 262dm.  At BBB the dispersion of dm is wide with a range 411dm-747dm, our BBB Index is 425dm.  The majority of trades are high coupon (>300bps margin) which scales the dm’s wide of our index for these bonds.  The BB dispersion is wide also with almost half of today’s liquidity trading 851dm-1173dm with our BB Index 862dm.  At the wide end is OCP 2014-7A DRR CVR 82.03 at 1173dm / 4.1y WAL – ADR is high 1.6, Sub80 3.9, MVOC is cuspy 101.2, coupon is low +583bps and Jnr OC cushion is low 2.8 and the bond is post reinvestment.  In terms of best execution, this is BCC 2020-1A E CVR 95.33 at 920dm / 7.7y WAL – high coupon +825bps, clean credit and MV metrics whilst Bain is a benchmark manager (the dm is scaled by the high coupon here naturally).

    EUR AAA CLO

    Eve though the whole stack has widened out again today the most notable move is in the AAA sector. There are 5 x AAA trades at an average spread of 208dm. Two days previously the average spread was +178 and the day before that it was +159. The average traded price is 94.41.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    There are 3 x AA trades at an average spread of 333dm. This is about 20bps wider on the previous day. Interestingly CFOUR 3X B1 traded yesterday at 91.15 and today at 90.61 and INVSC 1X BRE two days ago at 92.55 and today at 92.01.

    The sole BBB trade, ACLO 6X DR, is at +527, also about 20bps wider.

    The 3 x BB trades are around 1020dm. BBs have gone, in the space of a few days, from 900a to 950a to 1000a now.


  • 22 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $235m of liquidity today across the stack with spreads tighter at the senior end whilst a touch softer at the lower mezz end, US LL Index -16bp dod.  AAA trade 176dm-193dm centred around our AAA Index 185dm, furthermore a rare MM CLO AAA trades GOCAP 2017-34A AR covers 98.01 at 257dm / 2.5y WAL with an EoRP mid-2023 from a benchmark manager Golub. 

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    AA trade 252dm-299dm with our AA Index 261dm, best execution is AMMC 2015-16A BR2 CVR 97.66 at 252dm / 2.4y WAL – post reinvestment / high MVOC 140.1.  At the wider end of the dm scale with weakest execution is OAKCL 2019-3A BR CVR 92.66 at 299dm / 7.4y WAL – high ADR 1.8, high Sub80 bucket 5.3 with other metrics broadly in line / weaker manager record for OakTree pulling this wider.  BBB trade in a wide dispersion 411dm-589dm with our BBB Index 425dm, best execution is NEUB 2020-37A DR CVR 93.79 inside our index at 411dm / 6.2y WAL – strong MVOC 109.4, short wal (EoRP 2023), clean credit metrics and a benchmark manager.  At the wide end are 2 outliers, with one of them VENTR 2017-28AA DR CVR 86.5 at 589dm / 8.7y WAL – high ADR 1.5, high Sub80 4.7, MVOC at the low/mid end 107.8, high margin +362bps but a weaker manager record contributes to the weaker execution.  BB trade 756dm-996dm with our BB Index 856dm.  Best execution is FLAT 2020-1A E CVR 95 at 881dm / 8.3y WAL (EoRP 2025) – clean credit, high coupon +785bps and higher percentile MVOC 105.3 with a strong manager record from NY Life IM makes this a choice bond.  Weakest execution is REG14 2018-3A E CVR 86.5 at 921dm / 5.9y WAL (EoRP 2023) – ADR 0.9, Sub80 high 3.7. MVOC cuspy 101.9, Jnr OC cushion cuspy 1.2, coupon is low +595bps whilst Napier Park has a decent track record as a manager so it is this deal’s metrics (some of which are fixed like coupon) that are impacting upon execution.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    The 3 x AA trades today have traded at an average spread of 309dm. This is 10bps wider than yesterday’s trades. For reference the last primary issuance was in the +240 area.

    There is one BB trade, PHNXP 1X DR, at +967.


  • 21 June 2022

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    With the short week ahead of Independence Day next Monday there is limited liquidity, with $20m exchanging hands, all mezz with spreads overall remaining firm / stable with US LL Index +13bp dod.  At single-A MDPK 2016-22A CR covers 93.51 at 365dm / 4.6y WAL which is around our single-A Index level 361dm – benchmark manager CSAM and clean metrics with EoRP 2025 / coupon +200bps.  At BBB the trading range is 403dm-410dm with our BBB Index 421dm, with trades with shorter wals (EoRP 2023/2024) and again benchmark managers (Blackrock/CSAM) with clean metrics trading inside the index.  There are two outlier trades which trade well wide of the index 613dm-676dm with weaker MV/credit metrics – for instance at the wide end is MP3 2013-1A DR CVR 84.68 at 676dm / 5.4y WAL – this is an original BBB downgraded to BB with a low MVOC 105.2 and cuspy Jnr OC cushion 1.1, coupon +305bps and EoRP October this year.  At BB the trading range is 843dm-871dm with our BB Index 846dm, the two trades wide of the index are either high coupon (+710bps) / long wal or in the case of the weakest execution MDPK 2018-30A E CVR 88.5 at 871dm / 3.9y WAL which has a low coupon (+495bps) and downgraded to single-B.

    EUR AAA CLO

    After a long lull EUR CLO secondary trading has resumed. AAA spreads have opened much wider than they left off. The two trades today are at an average spread of +178. This is 15 – 20 bps wider than before Barcelona. And the OCPE 2017-2X A trade is amortising and still traded at +171. ARBR 7X A traded at 98.43 on 12 May 2022 and at 96.95 today, a point and a half lower in price over the last month.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    There are 7 x AA trades. The average spread of the floaters is +298 and the average price is 93H. This is about 45bps wider than pre-Barcelona.

    The 3 x single A trades have traded around +406 with an average price of M92h. This is about 50bps wider.

    The 3 x BBB have traded around +509. This is probably “only” about 40 – 50bps wider.

    A lot of BBs traded. The average spread is +961. The average price is 81h. This is about 70 – 80bps wider.

    The single B trades have gapped out to an average spread of +1401. These were in the L1200s pre-Barcelona. As an example, BLUME 3X F traded at 88.12 on 5 May 2022 and 74.50 today, a fall of almost 15 points.


  • 9 June 2022

    USD CLO AAA

    $133m of liquidity today across the stack, spreads continue their tightening theme across the board, US LL Index -2bp dod.  AAA trade 149dm-166dm with our AAA index 162dm, the vast majority of bonds today are shorter wal (EoRP 2022/2023) so trade inside our index.  Best execution is CIFC 2017-5A A1 CVR 99.14 at 157dm / 2.4y WAL – low ADR 0.4, coupon +118bps, Jnr OC cushion 4% and a benchmark manager in CIFC. 

    USD CLO Mezz/Equity

    1 x AA trade ICG 2014-2X BRR which covers at 96.29 at 251dm / 3.9y WAL (EoRP 2023) which is wide to our AA index 238dm – elevated ADR 1.1, high Sub80 4.6, low/mid Jnr OC cushion 2.97, low coupon +145bps.  5 x Single-A trade in a tight dispersion 272dm-291dm with our single-A index 296dm, bonds are typically shorter maturities (EoRP 2022-2024) so inside our index.  BBB trade once again in a wide dispersion 353dm-574dm with our BBB Index 389dm, those bonds well wide of the index are characterised by lower MVOC (105 area), high ADRs 1.2-1.3 and low Jnr OC cushions <2%.  B trade 787dm-1338dm with our BB index 784dm, at the wider end of the range today the MVOCs are very cuspy at around 100 whilst accentuated by the fact that many of these bonds have poor credit (eg. High ADRs) and higher Sub80 buckets (>3.5%), risk adjusted returns are weak with a current rated BB OFSBS 2018-1X E cover at 73 at 1338dm / 5.7y WAL – ADR 1.1, MVOC 99.84, coupon +600 and Jnr OC cushion 2.2 whilst the manager OFS has a weak performance record.

    EUR AAA CLO

    There are 9 x AAA trades today. The average traded spread is +159. If you just look at the 8 bonds that are not amortising their average spread is +163. The widest spread is BOPHO 4X A, at +182. All these trades are for short, high quality bonds and are much wider than where new issues are printing.

    EUR MEZZ/EQUITY CLO

    NEUBE 2022-3X B, a AA bond traded at +243.

    BABSE 2019-1X CR, a single A bond traded at +370.

    The 2 x BBs have traded around +881.

    TIKEH 5X F, a single B, traded at +1257.

    All these traded levels, across the whole cap stack, are not indicating any real movement in secondary spreads.