Setting the Scene: CLO Market in 2026

The moderator Chris McGarry opens the panel by recapping the CLO market journey from early 2025 through record issuance at year-end, into the current environment of geopolitical tension, AI disruption, the 2028 maturity wall, and recent securitization frauds. He pushes back on lazy comparisons between CLOs and CDOs, highlights CLOs as the best-performing asset class this millennium, and points to EU regulatory tailwinds including the Solvency II stimulus and the savings and investments union agenda. Panellists then introduce themselves.