Downward price flexes in the institutional market are on the rise February has seen an increase in downward price flexes in the institutional loan market with 12 price cuts on first-lien term loans reported so far. This is up from the 9 reported for all January and on par with November and December totals. Midway…
Returns jump across US corporate credit to start the year Total returns on US corporate credit have jumped to start the year, driven by more favorable sentiment across the capital markets, as investors react to a third straight month of declining inflation and the expectation that the Federal Reserve is closer to completing rate hikes….
US LBO loan vol. (US$bn) and direct lending share of total Last year, when heightened volatility caused US syndicated LBO loan volume to retrench, the private credit space helped soak up some of the demand. US direct lending LBO volume totaled US$92.8bn in 2022, comprising a 45% share of overall US LBO loan volume, an…
There was 4.1x more MM LBO volume in the direct lending market vs. syndicated market in 2022 With very challenging conditions in the syndicated loan market, more and more sponsors turned to the direct lending market for funds in 2022. Even in the fourth quarter, when direct lending contracted, the ratio of direct to syndicated…
US secondary market rallies to begin the year The US secondary loan market has rallied to start the year. The LPC 100 cohort of the largest, most widely quoted loans is up 142bp so far in January to 92.7, and middle market loans are 34bp higher to the 92.8 context. Volatility left a vastly altered…
Syndicated middle market loan volume falls 10% in 2022 In 4Q22, syndicated middle market lending posted its lowest quarter since 1Q21 amid bouts of market volatility and economic uncertainty. Issuance declined to US$35.5bn in the most recent quarter from US$40.1bn in 3Q22 and was also far below the US$52bn posted in 4Q21. On a full-year…
US institutional discounts widen, but remain at wide levels After reaching levels not seen since the credit crisis in 3Q22, discounts on US first-lien institutional term loans have tightened this quarter. The average original issue discount (OID) is 96.07 so far in 4Q22, tighter than 3Q22’s average of 94.15, but still at historically wide levels….
BDC portfolio marks expected to move moderately lower BDCs navigated the most recent 3Q22 earnings season successfully, benefiting from the higher interest rate environment as rising base rates on their floating rate loans boosted interest income. At the same time, BDC net asset values declined modestly due to unrealized losses stemming from lower portfolio marks,…
Returns on US leveraged loans and HY bonds positive for second consecutive month Returns for US leveraged loans and high-yield bonds were positive for a second consecutive month in November, with loan returns higher MoM to 1.24% and high-yield bonds returning 1.87%. Year-to-date returns stand at -9.85% for high-yield bonds, with loans outperforming at -0.9%….
BDC recommendations shift towards “hold” since March BDC research analyst recommendations have been marked by a shift in recent months towards “hold” recommendations, a move away from the “strong buy” and “buy” recommendations observed since the first quarter of this year. Despite this shift, “strong buy” and “buy” still account for over half of all…