Private Debt Intelligence – 3/13/2017

By THE LEAD | March 13, 2017

Private Debt Industry Assets Approach $600bn

The private debt industry has continued to grow in recent years, and as of the end of H1 2016 reached a record $595bn in assets under management. This comprises $224bn in capital available to fund managers (‘dry powder’) and $371bn in unrealized investments held by private debt vehicles. Both of these components have increased over the first half of the year, up from $216bn and $339bn respectively as of the end of 2015…

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Markit Recap – 3/6/2017

By THE LEAD | March 9, 2017

We noted last month that credit markets are still sensitive to political polls, despite doubts about their accuracy.

In particular, sovereign cds in Western Europe was responding to polls showing National Front leader Marine Le Pen surging ahead in the race to become France’s next president. Le Pen has stated that she is in favour of leaving the EU under the current framework, so it was no surprise to see France’s spreads widen when she took the lead in the polls.

But it was the behavior in the “ISDA basis” – the difference between sovereign CDS trading under 2014 and 2003 definitions – that caught our attention. Before Le Pen’s surge in popularity, the basis was stable at around 3bps. After her gains in the polls, the basis increased to 23bps in the final week of January…

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