The Credit Edge by Bloomberg Intelligence

Systematic credit investing has room to expand into leveraged loans, structured finance and emerging markets, according to Acadian Asset Management. “You could take an issuer approach to do security selection in the leveraged loan market,” Scott Richardson, the $178 billion firm’s director of systematic credit tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Sam Geier in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “That could be extended to structured things that sit on top of that, CLOs and the like,” says Richardson, referring to collateralized loan obligations. They also discuss alternative data, private credit and how to build a portfolio “without giving a liver and a kidney to Goldman Sachs along the way.”
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mortgage-backed securities look attractive even after government purchases snapped spreads tighter, according to Clark Capital Management. “I don’t think the trade is completely over yet because corporates are even tighter,” Oliver Chambers, head of fixed income for the firm’s separately managed accounts, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Erica Adelberg in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “You can go in and clip a 4.5% coupon and have potential for some price appreciation if rates do come down,” says Chambers. They also discuss technology debt risk, the market impact of new leadership at the Federal Reserve and what the central bank would do if there’s a big selloff.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technology companies flooding debt markets are just getting started on funding a $4 trillion artificial intelligence boom, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” Robert Schiffman, BI’s senior tech credit analyst, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie in this special episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “A lot will depend on at what pace industries are embracing AI technologies,” adds Anurag Rana, a senior BI equity analyst who also covers the sector. BI expects AI capital expenditure to exceed $4 trillion in the US through the end of 2030. The trio also discuss the impact of surging bond issuance on credit spreads, the appeal of very long-dated debt in a sector susceptible to disruption and the biggest risks for this year.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corporate loans signed when rates were low are increasingly hitting a wall as they come due, according to H.I.G Bayside. “There’s a level of discount in these stressed credits that we haven’t seen for a number of years,” Jackson Craig, who co-heads the credit-focused arm of H.I.G. Capital, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Tim Riminton in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “The dislocations that are occurring and the discounts that original lenders are willing to take to shed troubled assets has grown,” says Craig, who focuses on distressed debt. They also discuss private credit defaults, trouble in the chemicals sector, forced selling by collateralized loan obligations and how liability management is adding pressure.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investors underestimate the hazards in private debt, according to Pacific Investment Management Co. “There’s a lot of additional credit risk that people are often taking in some of these private situations that you kind of turn a blind eye to,” Christian Stracke, the $2.3 trillion asset manager’s president, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Noel Hebert in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “There is a fairly large overhang of problem loans that were made in years earlier this decade that will take years to burn through,” he adds. They also discuss deteriorating debt underwriting standards in the technology sector, Europe’s big defense investment opportunity and the “sell America” trade.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.