CDOs/CLOs

Credit deterioration is slowing in broadly syndicated CLOs – but a large percentage of deals are still failing certain performance tests under the weight of underlying asset downgrades and lower payment flows from obligors.

“Since April, the decline in corporate credit has resulted in a significant number of downgrades among the assets underlying some CLOs,” a Moody’s press release stated on Wednesday.

Shut out from many coronavirus relief programs, private equity companies have found a back door at HHS, where they have borrowed at least $1.5 billion.

Business development companies (BDCs) were trending ever healthier prior to the pandemic, but if the economy remains in the deep doldrums it may ultimately be their affiliated asset-management companies that investors should look to for assurance.

A New York judge last week dismissed a claim that a leveraged loan JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other Wall Street banks sold in 2014 could be considered a security and, as such, be subject to the same disclosure requirements as stock and bond offerings.

In a report issued Tuesday, the ratings agency notes that 1,287 companies as of April 28 faced prospects of potential debt and issuer downgrades, impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and a virtual shutdown of the global economy this spring.

4L Holdings Corp. is seeking a cash infusion that would help it outlast the economic pain the coronavirus outbreak has had on its business. That’s sparking the ire of CLO managers who could see their stakes in the firm wiped away.

Unlike public equities and even high-yield bonds, funds focused on CLO equity show little evidence of rebounding anytime soon from steep losses in total value.

Business development companies, the most visible pocket of the $800 billion private credit market, face more dividend cuts and possibly even restructurings later this year after the Covid-19 pandemic has bruised their portfolios.

The Federal Reserve's unprecedented scale of intervention sparked an immediate surge in demand for both investment-grade and junk bonds. Now that the program has started buying, it’s unclear what happens when – and if – the funding runs out.