Collateralized debt obligation structurers are adding to their menu of CDO extras because investors are increasingly looking to tailor deals to meet their specific risk profiles. Floating-spread coupons, principally protected tranches and managed deals, in addition to static ones, are among the features seeing increasing interest from investors, noted David Carlson, global head of credit derivatives marketing at Bear Stearns in New York.
Floating-spread coupons are an extension of the growing constant-maturity swap market and allow investors who are concerned about spread widening to sell credit protection, said Carlson. Principal-protected CDO tranches, although not new, are seeing increased demand as more investors look to take defensive exposures and rising interest-rates make the feature more affordable. Meanwhile single tranche and multi-tranche deals, traditionally static, are increasingly using managers.
