News
January 2022 | Issue 241
Top stories on creditflux.com in 2021: from the sell-side ship-out to a glut of CLO sales
12 january
Eagle Point invests in rival’s CLO fund
Anchor CLO equity buyer Eagle Point bought the preferred stock of a public CLO fund managed by rival Oxford Lane. 2021 was a year of diversification for Eagle Point: it launched a BDC-lending strategy and hired Nate Morse to invest in non-CLO assets.
27 april
The great CLO sell-side exodus shakes up US dealer desks
Have you got your pen and paper handy? In April, Morgan Stanley lost US CLO structurers Adam Schwartz and Risa Itoshima. They ended up at Amherst Pierpont and HPS.
Soon after, Goldman Sachs’s Cyrus Moshiri moved to New Mountain, JP Morgan’s Oswald Espinoza landed at KKR, and Apollo poached Cindy Wu from Barclays and Andrew Sandor from BofA. Lin Chang moved from RBC to Elmwood to round out a chaotic four-week period.
In the second half of the year, Deutsche Bank lost David Ryan, who landed at Barclays, but replaced him with JP Morgan’s Alex Danehy. Nomura brought in Anshu Chouhan from RBC, which had hired Alex Hu from Citi.
Meanwhile, BofA drafted in Robert Rhein from JP Morgan. Morgan Stanley nabbed Prabu Soundararajan from Natixis, which also lost Alexey Yegorov to SocGen but brought in Dustin Brewer from Credit Suisse. Goldman Sachs’s Jamil Nathoo left the industry.
Later in the year Barclays lost Erik Glyck to Octagon, replacing him with Credit Suisse’s Sandeep Hoshing.
Schwartz: quit Morgan Stanley in April and arrived at Amherst Pierpoint three months later
18 january
Alcentra credit co-CIO leaves
Leland Hart leaves Alcentra in a transitional year for the firm. Chris Barris was promoted in his place to lead credit with Graham Rainbow, but Rainbow stepped down in September. MacKay Shields’ Joe Cantwell was brought in to be co-CIO in Rainbow’s place.
29 january
Schroders looks at European CLO platforms
Schroders made a bid for credit businesses run by MeDirect and EQT. The businesses eventually went to Fidelity International and Bridgepoint.
10 february
High yield giant hires PM for return to CLOs
Putnam Investments signalled its intent to return to CLO management 17 years after its last deal by hiring First Eagle Investment Management CLO portfolio manager Scott D’Orsi.
22 february
Accunia puts European CLOs on the block
Copenhagen-based Accunia brings in Spencer House Partners to advise on a sale process, but this did not lead to anything. In December, the firm told investors it was committed to CLOs and would look to re-enter the primary market.
8 march
BofA emerges as big buyer of CLO loan tranches
The biggest entrant to the CLO investor base was BofA, which took a liking to triple As structured as loans. State Street soon followed. It adopted a similar strategy in Europe.
22 february
East West goes from debutant hero to zero
East West priced its first CLO in 2019 and little over a year later sold this deal to CIFC. The CIO of the CLO business, Andrew Maria, resurfaced at Sancus to launch its CLO platform.
8 march
Bardin Hill sells Euro CLOs to HPS
Yet another firm quits European CLOs as Bardin Hill sells its platform to HPS and decides to focus on US CLOs. CLO head David Snyder retires, but several analysts move to HPS.
12 april
BofA and Citi unveil CLO platform
Bank of America and Citi have joined forces with plans for a multi-dealer CLO and loan platform that will cover trading, data and analytics. Long-time traders Brian Bejile (Citi) and David Trepanier (BofA) are the key officials on the initiative.
13 april
Morgan Stanley hires CLO trader from buy side
Permira’s Adam Reynolds joins Morgan Stanley in London to prove that people also move from buy side to sell side.
19 may
CLO counterparties make charitable donations
CIFC Funding 2021-IV makes a $145,000 donation to non-profit organisation Black Girls Code. “Our focus has been on promoting racial equity and economic progress,” says CIFC’s Mark Sanofsky.
21 may
Blackstone goes on coffee run as it buys five CLO equity blocks
Blackstone buys the equity in European CLOs managed by Assured’s BlueMountain Fuji in a transaction dubbed ‘project coffee’.
7 june
Commerzbank’s CLO manager initiates sale across the sea
Commerzbank begins the process of selling its European CLO management unit, which is snapped up by Cross Ocean two months later.
15 june
Eldridge CLO-buying unit becomes Panagram
Eldridge’s $13.5 billion structured credit investment team is spinning out into a firm named Panagram Structured Asset Management. Panagram is an invented word based on the idea of the pangram in the New York Times’ Spelling Bee puzzle.
7 july
Ex-CVC official to make CLO comeback
CVC’s former European CLO head Jonathan Bowers is preparing the debut CLO for Acer Tree, the firm he founded. Barclays has won the mandate.
18 june
Kayne splits from CLO and credit opps unit
Kayne bids good-bye to CLOs as it places them in a new firm, Irradiant. Kayne CLO head John Eanes is one of three senior officials to move across.
8 july
HPS makes big hire to replace CLO head Frey
Brigade CLO head Jared Worman gets set to join HPS with David Frey set to retire. Brigade chooses to promote Andrew Petitjean as its replacement.
27 august
CLO head departs after merger
Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s CLO business has a new figurehead, five months after the firm’s merger with Eaton Vance. Michael Feeney is replaced by Eaton Vance’s Michael Kinahan. Feeney resurfaces at aspiring CLO issuer Centerbridge.
4 august
Morgan Stanley shakes up CLO leadership
Rachel Russell is promoted to sole head of new issue US CLOs at Morgan Stanley. Loris Nazarian, with whom she shared the leadership, takes on a capital introduction role.
9 september
CSAM wins Creditflux Manager Award
CSAM now stands alone with three manager of the year titles.
16 september
PGIM CLO investor earns promotion
Edwin Wilches is one of several senior figures to be promoted as part of a new leadership structure. He becomes co-head of securitised products.
24 september
Nochu again
Tokyo’s Norinchukin Bank makes a tentative return to CLO investing by taking some senior notes in an Octagon CLO reset.
20 october
Highland files lawsuit against former founders
Did you think that the Highland saga was over? This time the firm is suing founders James Dondero and Mark Okada, among other former executives.
28 october
T Rowe Price to take over Oak Hill
A purchase price of $4.2 billion takes credit manager Oak Hill into the mainstream. Later, Lazard is interested in Brigade, but the deal falls through.
28 october
Onex prices breakthrough Sofr CLO note
15bp emerges as the spread adjustment on three-year CLOs as Onex resets a deal with a triple A tranche referencing the Libor alternative.
2 november
Zais and BNP Paribas sign climate change CSO
The pair put together a first-of-a-kind CSO with positive and negative ESG screening.
17 november
State Street sells triple As
State Street lists over $800 million of US CLO triple A for sale, having sold $834 million the month before. A spokesperson says it remains committed to the CLO market.
11 november
Marathon prices first new CLO with Sofr
A five-year deal puts the spread adjustment at 20bp.
2 december
Whitestar to absorb European CLO unit
CLO heads Brian McNamara and Conor Power are joining Whitestar from MacKay Shields.
Global credit funds & CLO's
January 2022 | Issue 241
Published in London & New York.
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