CDOs

The closed-end fund, a major investor in CLO equity. directed resets of four deals that it controls in the first quarter; this helped end a yearlong slide in its weighted average portfolio yield.

The commercial real estate lender, which is controlled by Canadian and Singapore sovereign wealth funds, included some unusual features in the deal, such as a two-year revolving period.

According to Morgan Stanley, seven of 15 new European CLOs in the pipeline are debut or re-entry deals involving U.S. asset managers.

The average AAA note coupon of 103 basis points above Libor widened from 98.4 in March, which had been the tightest CLO spread level in approximately five years.

“We’re comforted by the fact our position in the market is so strong, and our ability to gain [loan] allocation is quite important," co-CEO Kewsong Lee says.

After the second-busiest quarter for primary European CLO issuance to start 2018, a two-week April lull in the market was ended with deal pricings by Intermediate Capital and Investcorp.

Jay Huang, a longtime Citigroup veteran who joined in January, is developing a high-tech trading-desk operation to enhance the company's portfolio of CLO investments.

It is backed by $499.8 million of trust preferred securities and subordinated debt issued by 63 banks and $380 million of TruPS and surplus notes issued by four insurance companies.

The total volume of CLO refinancings for the month to date has reachd $11.3 billion, as managers continue to take advantage of the repeal of skin-in-the-game rules for this asset class.

With no more concerns about triggering risk retention on its large pile of older deals, Blackstone is dusting off CLO portfolios that have long been eligible for a refi makeover.