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Opinion

August 2021 | Issue 237

Thomas Majewski,

Founder & managing partner

Eagle Point Credit Management

Opinion CLOs

In some ways, CLOs resemble a quirky, cottage industry more than a trillion-dollar market

Opinion Investment grade

Low inflation was in part responsible for fostering a transfer of returns from creditors to shareholders

Duncan Sankey,

Portfolio director and head of credit research

Cheyne Capital

Opinion

Direct lending

It’s not unusual for investors to toggle between the US and Europe depending on pricing and terms

Randy Schwimmer,

Head of capital markets and origination

Churchill Asset Management

Opinion Loans

Alongside larger private equity funds, loan volumes will continue to grow

Phil Bennett-Britton, Partner and portfolio manager | Spire Partners

Past returns

Doing DIY CLOs

Five years ago we reported that CLO managers were considering self-arranged CLOs. This came as risk retention rules encouraged issuers to retain CLO equity, which is the hardest part of the capital structure to shift.

Jeremy Ghose, then chief executive of 3i Debt Management, said that most large CLO managers could underwrite their own equity.

Apollo Global Securities has since scored arranging credits as co-placement agent on Redding Ridge Asset Management CLOs. But BMO has come closest to a self-arranged CLO with Great Lakes V.

Points up front

Writing the book on CMVs

Former Canyon Partners CLO head Dominique Mielle has gone from poring over CLO documentation to writing a novel about her experiences in the credit industry.

‘Damsel in Distressed: My Life in the Golden Age of Hedge Funds’ goes on sale in September. It covers Mielle’s 20-year career in the credit business.

Mielle tells us that one of her biggest accomplishments was launching one of the first capitalised manager vehicles in 2015. “This will be my epitaph: Here lies Dominique Mielle, beloved wife, mother and friend, creator of the first CMV,” she says.

After going from creating novel CLO risk retention-compliant structures to writing novels, it seems Mielle was destined to be a writer. We’re particularly curious about the contents of chapter 11.

CMV on her CV: Mielle claims she created the first capitalised manager vehicle

Non-performing loan market reboots Star Wars

Credito Valtellinese kicked off a trend a few years ago when it named its non-performing loan portfolios after characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, leading to Gimli, Elrond and Aragorn deals.

We hear that another bank is using a Star Wars theme for its NPLs, naming a €2.5 billion portfolio project Skywalker. That’s all well and good, but why are these ‘non-performing’ loans? As Darth Vader might have put it, we find the bank’s lack of faith disturbing.

THEY SAID IT

“The mantra is doing good and doing well without sacrificing returns”

Chris Mawn, who leads the corporate loans team at CarVal Investors, says ESG CLOs on CarVal’s new ‘clean CLO platform’ aim to deliver strong returns and have a positive societal impact.

CLOs at a glance

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Global credit funds & CLO's

August 2021 | Issue 237

Published in London & New York.