CLOs at a glance

Written By Alessio Marinelli
TagCLOs
DateApr 24, 2024
  • ABS of Corporate Loans: A Collateralised Loan Obligation is a structured credit product built upon a portfolio of leveraged loans (senior secured loans to Private-Equity owned corporates)

  • Similar features to other ABS products

Key statistics at a glance

Global CLO Volumes ($bn)

Global CLO Volumes ($bn)
Realized losses on CLO tranches have been substantially less than other ABS asset classes over the last 29 years

global-abs-and-clo-10-year

Why are CLOs attractive?

  • High Volume: Since 2013 there has been >$80bn of primary issuance each year (see opposite). After mortgages, it is the largest asset class in the ABS space

  • Diverse product range: High number of primary issuers in US & Europe

  • Principal Protection: CLOs have many of the same structural enhancements seen in ABS products (OC tests, senior note protection)

  • Low defaults: Moody’s report zero realised losses over the past 29 years, on a 10 year cumulative basis, for senior notes, with <1% recorded at the Baa (BBB eq) level (see 2nd chart). This compares favourably to all other ABS products across the US & EMEA

  • High Yielding: Given the specialist, non-retail & high margin nature of the underlying collateral (c. SOFR+500bps today), the rated notes pay a higher yield compared to other ABS products

  • Liquidity: Strong & sustained secondary market activity in senior notes through recent stressed events (Ukraine / Silicon Valley Bank), supported by multiple trading desks in London & New York

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