From global macro-economic trends through performance comparison to the latest Creditflux league tables, this short overview will give you all the background data you need for the day ahead.

The challenges of 2022 look to be continuing into 2023 for the European CLO primary market, with issuance in January and February of less than a third of the comparable numbers from last year. But deals are getting done, pricing is creeping tighter and existing CLOs are performing well. Our panel of experts will discuss the full breadth of the CLO market, and whether they’re feeling optimism or pessimism for the rest of the year.

• What’s holding back CLO issuance?
• Should investors be worried about deal performance as economies slow?
• Will there be any windows to reset or refi older CLOs?
• Have we solved the challenges of ESG in the European CLO market?

Forget investing in CLOs, 2022 was all about investing in CLO managers as a wave of major deals hit the M&A market. Major players like Blackstone and Carlyle snapped up smaller rivals, with fast-growing managers including Owl Rock and Sound Point joining the feeding frenzy. What’s been driving this trend, and will it continue across this year as well?

As economies across Europe falter in the face of challenges from inflation to war, it’s natural for investors to take another look at the risks in their portfolio. In this session our speakers will look at the current performance of the European loan market, what risks lie ahead in the next twelve months, and what that might mean for CLO investors.

• How did European loans perform in 2022?
• Is now the time to fill up those bond buckets?
• What CLO tests are most under-pressure?
• What should portfolio managers be doing now to prepare for the next twelve months?  

CLO markets may be slow, but the universe of alternative structured credit assets continues to grow. Do they offer a valuable way to diversify portfolios, or a trap for the unwary? We ask a group of seasoned investors what they think of some of the options now available on the market, including:

• Static CLOs
• Recurring revenue ABS
• BDCs
• Synthetic CLOs

Like the European market, the US CLO market had a slow end to 2022 and an even slower start to 2023. With spreads staying stubbornly high what lies in store for the primary market over the rest of the year, and how will existing CLOs perform?

• What’s the problem, and how will we fix it?
• How will the manager landscape change this year?
• Will electronic trading of loans and CLOs finally take off?
• From ETFs to BDCs, is this the time for retail investors to look at CLOs?

Two of the top lawyers in the market sit down with Creditflux to discuss what they’ve been seeing. What are the burning legal issues that investors in the CLO space need to take notice of?

An investment in CLOs is an investment in leveraged loans. This panel will look in depth at how the collateral underlying the US CLO market has performed in the last 12 months, and how it will fare over the year to come. Challenging macroeconomic conditions have already begun to weigh on the market as rating agency downgrades outstrip upgrades, but is this a temporary blip or a warning of deeper trouble to come?

• How will US leveraged loans perform over the next twelve months?
• Should investors have serious concerns about credit quality with the space?
• How are underwriting standards holding up?
• As the private credit markets continues to expand what’s left for leveraged loan investors?

We ask four of the top CLO and ABS traders to talk about everything and anything, from relative value to trading mechanisms. What’s on their minds this month?

Four top CLO investors walk us through their investment process as they consider our CLO investment case studies. From relative value to manager due diligence, what are the key questions every CLO investor should ask before they buy?

• Primary vs secondary
• US vs Europe
• Mezz vs Equity
• BSL vs MM

Please note that the Creditflux CLO Manager Awards Gala Dinner is by invitation only