Another Fine Mezz welcomes a special guest this week: Adrian Scragg, Lendco’s director of treasury, capital markets and ESG.
The episode goes through what the dramatic collapse of Market Financial Solutions will mean for the UK specialist mortgage sector and how the securitization market is showing more resilience in the face of volatility.
ABS issuance snapped back into action last week after only a short pause triggered by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. A couple of deals, Enra’s Elstree 2026-1 Mix and Auxmoney’s Fortuna 2026-1, got held up until this week, but three deals got done.
In the past, the shutdown might have lasted far longer. Typically, ABS has been among the last asset classes to reboot after a bout of volatility, but this time European covered bonds had to wait nearly a week longer for some deal action, restarting only yesterday.
CLOs too showed resilience. Five deals were placed last week. The war in Iran is not even the main thing keeping managers awake at night.
Worries about artificial intelligence's impact on software have turned into a serious rethink about the viability of certain business models. GlobalCapital has a comprehensive analysis of different tactics managers are using to approach the sector.
CLO liability spreads have reversed course and widening. The diverging approaches to software mean manager tiering is steepening, particularly in the junior mezz.
This is a big opportunity for managers to prove the merit of their methods.
