Search results for

Private debt is in vogue. US private placements and Schuldscheine — with a little help from Euro PPs — racked up roughly $100bn-equivalent of new issuance for companies in 2017. They should beat that in 2018. But with demand outweighing supply, investors have to stretch to accommodate borrowers, writes Silas Brown.

The high yield market is struggling to attract new issuers. Some believe the more flexible documentation on loans and alternative lending are luring debut leveraged debt issuers away. Could high yield lower its requirements to attract them back in 2018? Unlikely. But it can still find first time borrowers among companies unafraid of disclosure. Victor Jimenez reports.

As Europe’s economy regains its long lost momentum, private equity firms are at last expected to start putting more of their unprecedented mountain of dry powder to use in 2018. Signs are already there of PE firms making bigger bangs with leveraged buy-outs, and if that continues, levfin investors will cheer the flow of new debt that results. Victor Jimenez reports.

Banks will prioritise funding that helps meet their regulatory ratios in 2018, but covered bonds will continue to play a pivotal role because they provide the cheapest cost of funding. By Bill Thornhill

More than a decade after the financial crisis began, European banks are finally close to building new capital structures that should allow bail-ins to replace bail-outs. But with central banks promising to step away from financial markets in 2018, the last push could be the trickiest part of all. By Tyler Davies.

Having waited a while before testing the water, insurance companies are finally issuing all the debt capital securities described by the Solvency II regulations. But the future looks complicated, as growing calls for an insurance resolution framework threaten to overhaul the way firms are supervised in Europe. By Tyler Davies

Europe lags behind the US in green securitizations, but efforts buoyed by pro-ABS regulations — and an initiative to kick-start the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) market in Spain — could soon change that. Meanwhile in the US, ABS participants are hyping the emergence of a robust secondary market for residential PACE bonds, in addition to increasing momentum in commercial PACE ABS, after a maiden transaction hit last September. Sasha Padbidri and Sam Kerr report.

The onset of risk retention rules proved an unexpected boon for the US CLO market last year. The resulting surge of investor demand meant placing new deals was no real challenge. But in an increasingly aggressive loan market, CLO managers are being forced to make bold credit decisions to generate expected returns, writes David Bell.

Banks are now close to meeting their regulatory targets for issuing the new kinds of capital.They will turn their attention in 2018 to optimising their capital structures, writes Tyler Davies.

Technical factors suggest additional tier one (AT1) capital yields will continue to fall this year, even after a remarkably strong 2017. Ironically, the Banco Popular resolution, which burnt AT1 holders, actually made the asset class look more attractive in relative terms. Jasper Cox reports.

Canadian public sector issuers had a barnstorming year in the international debt markets in 2017, propelled by a strong economic performance by Canada and many of its provinces. But challenges loom — uncertainty over Canada’s trade relationship with the US, geopolitical instability and changing global monetary policy are just three of many concerns that borrowers, bankers and investors in Canada’s public sector bond markets will have to deal with this year. GlobalCapital met key market participants in Toronto in November to discuss the key issues.

Supranational and agency borrowers enjoyed enviable conditions in the bond market last year, with European Central Bank quantitative easing creating long end funding opportunities and a deep dollar market providing some big deals in the short end. But central bank actions could mean the environment is even better in 2018, writes Craig McGlashan.