This week we chat with Jessica Reiss and Justin Forlenza, attorneys with Covenant Review. Begun in 2006, Covenant Review is the world’s first boutique research firm focused on bond and loan covenants.

The Lead Left: It’s been a while since we first featured Covenant Review. Give us an update.  

Justin Forlenza: We’re an independent research firm, comprised of fifteen lawyers. Our focus is on credit agreements and bond documents as well as intercreditor agreements and term sheets. We provide analysis through our website in the form of research reports.

Jessica Reiss: We have a diverse customer base, primarily broadly syndicated loan investors, but also sell-side focused managers. We review terms from a covenant and legal perspective, and advise our customers on the risks. It’s really about providing documentation ins and outs from a market perspective. It’s also about weighing where terms are on the spectrum from aggressive to conservative. Our historical focus has been on large cap, but some are less than $100 million ebitda. We don’t see as much in the traditional middle market, but we do see some in the $50-100 million range.