CLOs

  • Junior risk-off spreads across European securitisation market

    SCIx fixings show double-B widening turns universal in June, as senior spreads diverge by sector

    The latest SCI Composite Index (SCIx) fixings show broad-based widening across the stack, a reversal from last month’s broad tightening, with two exceptions among the senior tranches.

    Today’s monthly figures show junior risk-off sentiment went from isolated to universal across the European public securitisation markets. Last month, double-B widening was limited to the auto ABS sector, while CLO, RMBS, and Consumer .......

    News Analysis 4 August 2026

  • Risk Control launches MDB securitisation consultation

    Research aims to identify obstacles to MDB securitisation as new asset class gains traction

    Risk Control is aiming to identify obstacles to multilateral development bank (MDB) securitisations through a market consultation that launched this week, as well as gauging awareness surrounding the emerging asset class. Findings are set to inform a report for the UK and Swiss governments.

    The survey, conducted for the UK’s Mobilist programme – a programme that .......

    News 31 July 2026

  • Job swaps weekly: Blackstone appoints successor to Leonard

    People moves and key promotions in securitisation

    This week’s roundup of securitisation job swaps sees Blackstone appointing a successor to outgoing European head of liquid credit strategies Alex Leonard. Elsewhere, SMBC Group has appointed a new head of its EMEA securitised products group syndicate, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has named a new London-based partner in its European finance and capital markets group.

    Market Moves 31 July 2026

  • The independent director myth: structured finance's most convenient governance fiction

    Peterson Frederick, chairman and interim ceo of Northern Pro...

    The ‘independent’ director on an SPV’s board is picked, paid and can be replaced by the very firm administering the vehicle they’re meant to police. Structured finance has spent three decades treating that as normal. It shouldn’t.

    Every offering memorandum carries the same reassuring line: the Issuer’s board includes an independent director. Investors read it and move on. .......

    Talking Point 30 July 2026

  • SCI In Conversation Podcast: Kate Galustian, BlackRock

    We discuss the hottest topics in securitisation today...

    In this episode of SCI In Conversation, SCI senior reporter Camilla Vitanza sits down with BlackRock's head of ABS, Kate Galustian, to discuss the firm's Global Securitized Fund. Galustian outlines the outlook for securitised markets, where the team is finding value across structured credit, and why active security selection remains a key driver of performance in today's market.

    News Analysis 29 July 2026

  • First US CLO note default since GFC reflects optional liquidations, not market stress, says Fitch

    Agency says affirmations will dominate rating actions in 202...

    Fitch Ratings has played down the significance of the first default of a Fitch-rated US CLO note since the Global Financial Crisis, saying the event reflects a growing trend of optional liquidations rather than broader market weakness.

    The agency downgraded the ‘CCC’ rated class E-R notes issued by Voya CLO 2015-3, to ‘D’ in early July after a missed .......

    News 28 July 2026

  • Blackstone reshuffles European credit leadership after Leonard departure

    SCI understands Cunningham has succeeded Alex Leonard, who r...

    Blackstone has made some changes to its European credit leadership team with David Cunningham appointed as head of European CLOs and liquid loans at Blackstone, SCI learns.

    A spokesperson from Blackstone told SCI that Cunningham has "assumed" the role and reports to Laura Coady, global head of CLOs and European head of liquid credit strategies.

    Cunningham has been a .......

    Market Moves 27 July 2026

  • SCI in Focus: CLOs' role in Standard Life's structured credit build-out

    Standard Life is using CLO structures to deploy shareholder...

    When Solvency II's highly predictable cash flow (HP) reform reshaped the rules for insurers' matching adjustment portfolios in 2024, most attention went to how it would affect annuity pricing. At Standard Life, it did something more structural: it created an entirely new business line.

    The insurer has since built out a dedicated structured credit division, and CLOs .......

    News 24 July 2026

  • Apollo's AMAPS pipeline grows, but transparency questions linger

    Fifth deal in the AMAPS series marks push towards third party investors

    The pipeline for Apollo’s latest innovation in the structured credit world continues to grow, while market participants remain concerned about the structure’s transparency and circularity. The fifth transaction in the Apollo multi-asset prime securities (AMAPS) series is moving into the execution phase after receiving final ratings from Fitch at the end of June. 

    The AMAPS structure is akin to a hybrid .......

    News Analysis 24 July 2026

  • Job swaps weekly: Barings, HSBC and MUFG make key hires

    People moves and key promotions in securitisation

    This week's roundup of people moves sees Barings complete the integration of Gryphon Capital Investments with the appointment of Pete Robinson to its Australian ABF team, while Moelis has expanded its structured products franchise in New York and CLO industry veteran Herman Guelovani has announced his retirement from Aegon Asset Management. Elsewhere, HSBC has strengthened its structured finance business .......

    Market Moves 24 July 2026

  • SCI In Focus: Manager tiering comes into focus

    CLO returns increasingly dependent on manager behaviour and alpha-generating decisions

    Issuers and investors alike agree that manager tiering is playing an increasingly central role in shaping the global CLO market, as a new regime of selectivity and dispersion continues to take hold. 

    There is broad consensus among managers and investors that the era of beta-driven returns is over. The tailwinds that previously supported the market are no longer doing .......

    News Analysis 23 July 2026

  • Banks reshape the narrative in Q2 securitisation hires

    Latest SCI Analytics Quarterly Job Swaps Report shows ABF do...

    ABF continued its winning streak in 2Q2026, dominating 60% of all hires at mid-, senior- and C-suite-level, according to data captured in the latest SCI Analytics Quarterly Job Swaps Report.

    The broader structured finance market has similarly continued to thrive as we reached the midpoint of the year. SCI captured 105 moves during 2Q2026, an 18% increase on .......

    News Analysis 23 July 2026

  • Aegon AM makes leadership transition in EU CLO business as veteran retires

    Long-serving industry veteran will leave the firm on 1 Augus...

    CLO industry veteran Herman Guelovani is retiring and will be leaving Aegon Asset Management, where he is currently head of European leveraged loans, with Stuart Pirrie replacing him, SCI has learned.

    A spokesperson from the firm confirmed Guelovani’s departure and said he will be leaving the business on 1 August. “We wish him all the best in his retirement,” Aegon AM tells .......

    Market Moves 21 July 2026

  • CLO liquidity brings passive style investing closer to reality

    Growing ETF demand and record CLO trading volumes are laying...

    Passive style investment strategies are moving closer to becoming practical in the CLO market as secondary liquidity expands and ETF assets continue to expand, according to a special CLO report by J.P. Morgan.

    US CLO trading volumes reached $186bn in the first half of 2026 which is the highest first-half total since FINRA began reporting the data in 2011, according to SCI data. This .......

    News Analysis 21 July 2026

  • EU index volatility greater in RMBS than CLO despite tighter spreads

    SCIx analysis highlights a more volatile RMBS market, with C...

    European RMBS spread index values recorded substantially greater month-to-month volatility than equivalent rating-band CLO levels between May 2024 and June 2026, according to SCIx.

    Across each rating band from triple-A to single-B, the standard deviation of monthly spread index percentage changes was higher for RMBS than for CLOs. Triple-A RMBS recorded a standard deviation of 23.3% in the index .......

    News Analysis 21 July 2026

  • UK life insurers turn to structured finance as long-duration asset shortage intensifies

    Scottish Widows says insurers are expanding into lifetime mo...

    Scottish Widows says it is aiming to push the boundaries of structured finance, as UK life insurers hunt for long-duration assets to back booming annuity liabilities. Insurers are increasingly being forced to innovate beyond traditional infrastructure and real estate investments, argues Zoltan Galyo, head of loan investments at Scottish Widows.

    Speaking to SCI, Galyo says UK life insurers face .......

    News 20 July 2026

  • European CLOs increasingly defer junior OC tests

    Structural concessions in a strong primary market are reducing protection for junior noteholders

    A growing number of new issue European CLOs over the past 12-18 months have excluded or modified single-B overcollateralisation (OC) tests, as managers take advantage of surging demand to extract structural concessions from investors.

    From analysis of prospectuses available in SCI’s primary issuance database, 100% of newly printed EU CLOs either had no class F par value .......

    News Analysis 20 July 2026

  • Job swaps weekly: Private credit firm Vertis hires capital formation lead, Blackstone expands in London

    People moves and key promotions in structured credit

    This week’s roundup of structured credit job swaps sees Vertis hiring a head of capital formation, Wilmington Trust hiring a structured finance transaction manager and Fitch Ratings appointing a md to leads its North American asset-backed securities team.

    Rune Sanbeck has joined Vertis as partner and head of capital formation. He will lead all fundraising across the platform, including .......

    Market Moves 17 July 2026

  • Bain default opens door to wider European single-B stress

    Investors grow more selective as more deals show signs of stress

    The European CLO market's first single-B write-down may not be its last, according to market participants, who highlight a broader cohort of deals with uncovered single-B tranches.

    Man GLG Euro III, seen as the deal most likely to follow Bain 2018-1 in writing down its single-B notes, confirmed its redemption yesterday. The issuer did not confirm .......

    News Analysis 16 July 2026

  • Investors weigh in as manager battle of CLO fund heads to shareholder vote

    Shareholders divided over fees, performance and governance ahead of upcoming vote

    Rockford Tower Asset Management could replace Octagon Credit Investors as investment sub-adviser to XAI Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust (XFLT), setting up a closely watched shareholder vote over the management of the publicly traded CLO-focused closed-end fund.

    Launched in 2017, XFLT which invests primarily in senior secured loans, CLO equity and CLO debt tranches, is seeking shareholder .......

    News Analysis 16 July 2026

  • Smaller triple-C buckets belie increased risk in EU CLOs

    As older deals struggle to reset, shrinking triple-C buckets...

    Declining equity NAV among aging European CLOs are making resets increasingly difficult, with those that are able to extend often doing so at the cost of a leaner, but riskier triple-C bucket, according to market participants. 

    Resets have long served as a release valve for CLOs allowing managers to extend risk and avoid terminal stress, some of which .......

    News Analysis 15 July 2026
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