--Joy Wiltermuth
Credit Suisse has started to reach out to portfolio managers to gauge the market for the bank’s potential re-entry into the business of arranging collateralized loan obligations. The investment bank slashed its CLO desk when the credit crisis took hold, but a senior official told TS that the initiative is linked to the bank’s ongoing effort to building out its structured credit team in New York and London—albeit on a limited basis.
Directors Brad Larson and Andrew Bellis are co-heading the CLO initiative out of New York and London, respectively. The duo could not be reached for comment and the bank’s current staffing levels and scope of future hiring could not immediately be determined.
Separately, CLO managers are calling industry veteran Asif Khan’s recent resurfacing at Morgan Stanley as a strong signal for that bank’s aspirations to return to the market. “The bankers and the investment bank platforms have been largely dismantled,” one manager remarked, adding that the return of a few familiar faces was welcomed. “It’s been hard to know who to approach with ideas.” Khan declined to comment.
The increased visibility of investment banks in new issuance has timed with a smattering of new deals. Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo recently priced two new middle-market CLOs (TS, 8/4), and a number of new issuances are being marketed.
GSO Capital, a division of the Blackstone Group, and Guggenheim Securities are both reportedly prepping new CLO issuances. Traders also expect new vehicles jointly sponsored by LCM Asset Management and Tetragon Financial Group (TS, 8/17) and another one by Symphony Asset Management (TS, 7/23) to price after Labor Day. Officials at each of the firms and the arranging banks declined to comment.