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Private Debt Intelligence - 2/6/2017

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Private Debt Funds in Market by Strategy

After two consecutive years of private debt fundraising exceeding $90bn, the pipeline remains strong with investor appetite for the asset class as strong as ever. In total, there are 288 private debt vehicles marketing themselves to investors, targeting a combined $117bn of capital commitments.

Direct lending funds represent the highest proportion of both total funds on the road and aggregate target capital; 127 funds (44%) are seeking $51bn (43%)...

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Markit Recap – 1/30/2017

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Many market commentators have commented that 2017 will be the year of political risk. Ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, Donald Trump’s inaugural year as US president and a series of elections in continental Europe make conditions ripe for bouts of volatility.

This may be self-evident, but so far the credit markets are taking little heed. Realised volatility in the Markit iTraxx Europe, as measured by the VolX index, dropped sharply in Q4 and has remained around the 28-29% level this year. Indeed, the last three months have been the longest period of low volatility since March 2007, when the first signs of the US sub-prime crisis emerged. It was a similar story with the Markit iTraxx Crossover...

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Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis -1/30/2017

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Strong retail fund inflows help fuel the leveraged loan market

Investors have been pouring money into retail loan funds in recent months. This has helped fuel demand in the leveraged loan market. Last week, investors placed US$1.02bn into retail loan funds, the second time in three weeks the US$1bn mark was eclipsed. It was also the tenth week out of the last eleven that there was over US$500m invested in loan funds. With the increased demand in loans, it is no surprise the leveraged loan market has kept busy...

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The Pulse of Private Equity - 1/30/2017

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PE Fundraisers As Successful as Ever, Suggesting Industry’s Maturation

89% of private equity funds closed in the US last year, against a backdrop of healthy fundraising levels—252 vehicles combined for a total of $180 billion committed. This decade-high proportion of fundraising success leads one to the most evident conclusion that limited partners are still eager for exposure to the asset class. Combined with the historically strong median buyout fund size of $250 million in 2016...

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Private Debt Intelligence - 1/30/2017

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Private Debt Fundraising by Geographic Focus

Preqin’s latest data finds that through 2016, 130 private debt vehicles reached a final close raising a combined $92bn in another strong year of fundraising for the asset class. However, the year also saw greater capital concentration in the more developed markets of North America and Europe as managers looking to invest in Asia and Rest of World struggles to attract the same levels of capital...

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Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis -1/23/2017

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Unitranche volume grows while deal sizes get bigger

As money continues to pour into the middle market searching for yield, the unitranche structure continues to gain traction. Unitranche volume reached US$13.3bn in 2016, up from US$8.5bn in 2015. Bigger deals were seen in 2016 as more and more lenders continued to build scale and increase their hold size. The average deal size was $198M in 3Q16 and $129M in 4Q16. But 50% of unitranches continue to be in the $0-$100M deal size area...

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The Pulse of Private Equity - 1/23/2017

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US PE company inventory still poses questions

As of the end of 2016, there were 7,168 companies backed by private equity firms in the US. That represents a 46% increase over the 4,923 recorded in 2009. Even though the majority of those businesses are on the younger side in terms of when they were invested in, there is still a significant portion that has been held for over six years. Part of that is due to slowing exit activity throughout last year, but it also raises questions about portfolio company quality...

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Private Debt Intelligence - 1/23/2017

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Mezzanine Vehicles Drive Private Debt Fundraising in 2016

2016 saw 141 private debt vehicles reach a final close raising a combined $89bn, a slight slowdown from the 156 funds that secured a record $97bn of investor capital in 2015. However, 2016 still marked another year of extremely robust fundraising with investor appetite for the asset class showing no signs of diminishing.

Direct lending funds accounted for the highest number of vehicles closed through the year with 51 vehicles raising a combined $24bn...

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Markit Recap – 1/16/2017

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Speeches by UK prime ministers were rarely market moving events, despite what some of the more breathless commentators in the broadcast media would have you think. But perhaps this has changed since the Brexit referendum in June last year, even if the spin doctors manage the message in advance.

The main thrust of Theresa May’s speech this week was leaked in the days leading up to her address, so traders and investors were not exactly hanging on her every word. But there were still some pronouncements that did affect sentiment, particularly in the FX markets, such as the confirmation that the final deal will be put to parliament...

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Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis -1/16/2017

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Non-sponsored MM new money picked up in 2016; refinancings dropped

Non-sponsored lending dropped to US$86bn in 2016 from US$93bn in 2015. In contrast with every other major market segment (overall, leveraged, investment-grade, institutional, middle market sponsored) which witnessed a quarter over quarter increase in volume in 4Q16, non-sponsored middle market lending of US$22bn, was down 7%. Refinancings, the main driver of volume since the credit crisis, were down 21% in 2016 to US$53bn. Most of the refinancings were done in previous years and there was not that much in the form of opportunistic refinancings as pricing has somewhat stabilized in this market...

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