News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
A buyer's market
Chorus Capital concludes fundraising
Chorus Capital (Chorus) has successfully concluded fundraising for Chorus Capital Credit Fund V (the fund), its latest dedicated risk-sharing fund.
Through this fundraising, the firm has raised c. US$2.5bn of capital commitments across parallel vehicles, meeting its target size. Comparatively, Chorus had amassed US$1.5bn of capital commitments for its previous fund (Chorus Capital Credit Fund IV) back in 2021.
Commenting on the successful fundraising, Gilles Marchesin, founder and ceo at Chorus, highlights a challenging environment and context: “Our fourth fund was already almost completely invested towards the end of 2021 and therefore we quickly got on to market the latest fund. We launched in Q2 of 2022 and got off to an excellent start. However, and like most asset managers, we experienced a big slump in 2023, particularly during the second quarter. We are therefore very pleased with the final outcome and what is likely the largest dedicated fund in the SRT space.”
Regarding the investor base, the latest fund received strong support both from existing limited partners and new investors (who represent c. 60% of capital commitments). This further diversifies Chorus’ institutional investor base including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and family offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In terms of similarities and differences between the 4th and 5th funds, Marchesin notes that pension funds still account for almost 70% of the investor base. However, and in line with recent market developments, North American investors – boosted by fresh issuances from U.S. banks, which received crucial regulatory guidance late last year – now represent almost 2/3 of capital commitments.”
Unsurprisingly, in terms of strategy the fund follows Chorus’ longstanding expertise in the large corporate segment of the SRT market. Consequently, the fund is heavily focused (80-90%) on portfolios of large corporate loans from leading European and North American banks, based on Chorus’ view that risk-sharing transactions on such portfolios offer the most attractive risk-adjusted returns and the greatest amount of downside protection in the asset class. Commenting on Chorus’ preference for large corporate portfolios, Marchesin additionally points to larger volumes and greater transparency. He says: “SRT transactions referencing portfolios of large corporate loans represent about 60% on average of issuance every year for the last decade. Additionally we feel that the large corporate segment offers more transparency in the underlying risk exposures, particularly with our ability to undertake bottom-up analysis and portfolio mapping.”
Chorus’ successful fundraising sits within the broader theme of a consistently expanding SRT market, with more and more banks driven by the ability to deliver capital efficiency while lowering the pressure to sell assets at a loss or raise dilutive financing. While asked if new entrants are bringing in increased competition or affecting Chorus’ overall strategy, Marchesin argues that the SRT market remains a “buyer’s market.” He says: “An obvious way to answer this is to look at spreads. While spreads of our current vintage of investments are a bit tighter than last year, we have been barely affected by the renewed interest in the market.”
He continues: “Generally speaking, I feel there have been probably more white paper or articles about SRTs than actual investments by new entrants. We are in a market where issuance volumes are still stymied by a lack of available capital. Although more and more banks are active or looking at this space, and although transactions are getting bigger, there is a fundamental imbalance between supply and demand. There is still a lot of untapped potential.”
Reflecting on the trends which have impacted the market so far this year, Marchesin identifies three dominant themes. He notes: “Firstly, the growth in transactions continues at pace, with according to our database c.US$9.5bn in issuance in H1 2024 across c. 60 transactions from c. 30 banks. This represents a 35% increase year-on-year. Then we have to highlight the fact that European banks continue to be the predominant issuers in the SRT market, representing 71% of YTD volumes. Finally, large corporate loans deals remain the largest asset class in the market.”
Similarly, when asked to look into his crystal ball and single out potential trends or challenges for the market in the near future, Marchesin sees three likely and exogenous themes. He says: “On the regulatory front, I would argue that the direction of travel is rather clear. There are no obvious reasons as to why we will not end up with relatively homogenous norms between the US and Europe. Therefore in this context we view regulatory developments (and the inevitable application of Basel IV) as a tailwind rather than a headwind. What would certain hinder growth is a new drop in the public markets, or the return of the denominator effect.”
Finally, Marchesin points to what he views as the central long-term driver for banks and issuance: “The current priority for banks in their ongoing need to manage capital is not so much to raise their CET1 ratio, but rather to improve their Return-on Equity (RoE). In Europe, banks’ RoE has been significantly below their cost of capital since the GFC and we estimate that c. 40% of banks’ regulatory capital is allocated to corporate lending.”
He concludes: “On average, the European and North American banks which issue SRT transactions have only used c.5% of their corporate loan books. Therefore given the extent of banks’ ROE issues, the SRT market has a lot of room to grow in the next 10 years.”
Vincent Nadeau
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News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
Shot across the bows
US Senator Jack Reed urges the Fed to place additional guardrails around CRTs
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) has called on the Federal Reserve to create stricter regulations on credit risk transfer (CRT) transactions. The US senator made the calls in a letter to the Federal Reserve, in a development that comes nine months after he wrote to the regulator warning that the risks of CRT trades “may not be fully understood”.
This time around, Senator Jack Reed claims that synthetic risk transfer transactions are being overly leveraged. As outlined in the letter, the senator emphasises and questions whether leveraged CRTs truly transfer credit risk, noting: “the use of bank-provided leverage raises serious questions about whether CRTs truly transfer credit risk to outside investors or further concentrate risk among a small number of Wall Street banks.”
Additionally, the senator requests that the Federal Reserve Require public regulatory reporting (through bank call reports and systemic risk reports) of information regarding each bank’s use of CRTs, including the amount of risk transferred, the associated capital relief, the identities of the counterparties, the amount of risk transferred to each counterparty, and the credit quality of assets in each reference pool.
One CRT investor describes the letter as another “shot across the bows” for CRT by US banks. They note: “Fundamentally, there are a few aspects which do not align fully with practitioners’ view of the market. Firstly, you note a the comments around leverage. SRT leverage is usually done by a normal repo instrument the same as any other market repo which banks carry out on other instruments without any specific limitation. Then, the suggestion that banks have to disclose who their SRT investors are is a significant step – query in what other type of transaction is a bank obliged to disclose publicly who their counterparties are?”
They continue: “He also suggests that banks should required to disclose the amount of capital relief obtained, which is of course required to be disclosed to regulators here in Europe at inception and periodically; the point is that for prudential oversight this is useful, but public disclosure assumes a level of understanding of the complexity of these calculations in the recipient of the information.”
Asked if such assessment and critique of the asset class is slowly gaining momentum in the US, the investor views that Senator Reed’s letter is a “concern.”
They say: “Although Senator Reed is perhaps right in saying that there should be some type of stronger oversight, what strikes me is that there is a suggestion that banks are doing something in the shadows, which is not the case.”
Conceivably, the underlying sentiment of such letter might be viewed as a lobbying case towards a more classical capital market instrument with more broadly syndicated deals. Again, the investor expresses scepticism: “That is sort of what they are implying in this letter. However, why are bilateral transactions a problem? Often deals are closed bilaterally (after a syndication process) because the financial arrangement is such that it's bilateral. If CRTs were to become more of a classic DCM instrument, it then becomes less of a risk-sharing transaction.”
Vincent Nadeau
News Analysis
Capital Relief Trades
Diverging markets?
SRT investor-issuer relationships evolving
A common gripe among SRT practitioners is that the flood of new investors to the sector has suppressed spreads. However, some believe it has impacted investor-issuer relationship dynamics too.
According to one market participant, this difference in relationships is particularly pronounced between European deals and the deals which have recently been issued in the US. “While the main theme has been too many investors and tightening spreads, the big thing for me is existing investors expect there to be conversations to be had with origination, modelling and credit people, as well as cradle-to-grave data of the exposure to be shared. But these new deals look at pools of resi loans like they’re an ABS, so that isn’t happening.”
They add that while traditional investor-issuer relationships in Europe emphasise ‘risk sharing’, with the two counterparties sitting alongside each other, the tendency of US issuers is to provide a “whole dump of data”, which is less satisfactory.
A second source believes this analysis is somewhat limited to consumer-focused asset classes, like auto and residential loans. “The divergence in relationships differs dependent on the issuer, the deal and the overall strategy. In the case of the prime auto space, where there’s a lot of SRT activity at the moment, much of that is just like any other ABS to be honest.”
They continue: “There’s already an ABS market for auto loans, so a lot of the people issuing these deals are already issuers in the market or are looking to be issuers there. So, they’re just trying to get their capital down with these quite homogenous, commoditised deals.”
This represents a significant difference from the corporate or sub-line deals coming out of the US. “Non-asset-backed deals are far more strategic; perhaps even more so than European deals.”
There are two main SRT structures in the US market: those utilising CDS and those utilising CLNs issued by an SPV. CDS contracts tend to be with one single counterparty, but there are regulatory hoops for issuers to jump through before issuing CDS, whereas CLNs are more straightforward to issue.
CDS-based deals have been referred to as “very bilateral and strategic”, including the Citi and two US Bank deals issued this year.
Meanwhile, some highly syndicated programmes have quietly drawn disdain from some investors. A third source, an investor, tells SCI: “European SRTs are often over-syndicated or done as club deals, whereas US deals need to be bilateral with one single counterparty to a CDS transaction. This makes it a bigger transaction (in the case of CDS), meaning the US banks tend to trade with certain counterparties.”
This essentially means US banks have little choice but to be more involved in issuer-investor relationships. It also seems that US banks have a tendency to execute deals quickly.
The source notes: “You don’t get told in advance in the US. In Europe, there’s a bit more of an established process, as you tend to have a good sense of which banks will issue when.”
The first source suggests that executing a deal “quickly” is precisely what leads to a worse relationship: “The model may be strategic, but does the investor actually understand the risk they are sharing?”
How much of this is just the general evolution of the market? Now SRT is a known quantity in Europe, shouldn’t that mean investors require less handholding?
Our first source answers with an emphatic “no”. They explain: “The investors we’re talking to are very competent and know how banks work. If you have a granular pool of SME loans, you probably don’t need that depth of conversation, so it depends on the asset class.”
They add: “But you need to have those whites-of-the-eyes conversations with the bank team to understand what happens in different scenarios in the protected asset class specifically. That has been the secret sauce of SRT transactions.”
These new dynamics could result in a divergence between new investors and issuers and the old guard. “New investors and issuers will have their own echo chamber, and those of us who really want to interrogate a deal properly will have our own space,” the source observes.
To some extent, the split has already happened. Some new investors have been unhappy with the winner-takes-it-all syndication, complaining that the due diligence required to bid for an SRT deal can be very costly for those who are unsuccessful (SCI 19 April).
Joe Quiruga
SRT Market Update
Capital Relief Trades
Gearing up
SRT Market Update
Heading into the autumn months, the SRT market is gearing up for a bustling end to the year, in spite of the volatility seen earlier this month. While the timelines for a couple of European transactions have been extended, Canadian and US bank activity is picking up pace.
Following a dramatic start to August, with a significant volatility spike, one SRT investor notes little to no impact on the SRT or broader private credit markets. He says: “From an investment perspective – as opposed to fundraising perhaps – the period of volatility was over pretty quickly. In the SRT market, you generally tend to see a two- to three-month lag. However, given all of this happened and reversed within days, we don’t expect any impact at all - unless it comes back in a more pronounced manner in September.”
He continues: “Especially given that year-end is getting closer and that spreads have tightened throughout the year, there will be more of a push to widen spreads again into the year-end. And with a lot of deals coming to market, that's easier to do.”
Reflecting on market activity and volumes during August, the investor describes a “busy summer”. While club or broadly syndicated deals generally do not tend to price in August, he points to a restart in Canadian issuance.
He says: “While it has been a slow to start for Canadian banks this year, there are two trades in the market at the moment. And the expectation is that there will be at least another two before year-end.”
In terms of the deals currently in the market, the investor indicates that BMO and another “usual” issuer are behind them and that both reference corporate loan portfolios. Regarding execution, he adds that pricing indications will be out “next week or in early September.”
Similarly in the US, the investor understands that the large banks will execute corporate loan deals before year-end. He says: “Away from the smaller, regional banks, we haven't really seen any momentum out of the US. There is currently one trade that has just launched out of the US by one of the bigger banks. However, I am aware of Goldman Sachs, Citi, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all having plans for Q4 this year.”
Back in Europe, French banks are also targeting Q4 for their corporate programmes. Analysing the French pipeline, the investor notes: “We expect CACIB to return with another CEDAR transaction. Societe Generale’s Junon is also expected but has not come to market yet. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas’ latest Resonance deal was initially launched but has been pushed back to Q4.”
Additionally, Piraeus Bank is understood to have extended the timeline for its planned transactions (SCI 13 May). The €1.8bn corporate and SME trade that was originally scheduled for June has been moved to the end of the year, while the €500m consumer loan trade is expected to be re-examined during 2025.
Finally, in Italy, Intesa Sanpaolo is believed to be closing a corporate and sponsor-led loans transaction next month.
Vincent Nadeau
|
NAIC unveils ‘helpful’ guidance
At its Summer National Meeting in Chicago last week, the NAIC unveiled guidance relating to the statutory accounting treatment of insurance company investments in bank CRT transactions. In a new client memo, Cadwalader highlights a couple of points under the guidance that it notes are “helpful”.
First is that although the new principles-based bond definition (SSAP No. 26) refers to ABS as being repaid with cashflow produced by collateral ‘owned’ by the issuer, the term ‘owned’ as used for this purpose is not necessarily intended to align with a legal view of ownership, but rather, all economic value to which the creditor has recourse. Second is that although the new bond definition requires a ‘creditor relationship’ which generally requires that interest and principal payments do not vary based on a ‘non-debt variable’, an ABS issuer that owns derivatives in the structure - such as a CDS or total return swap - that solely transfers the performance of the referenced pool into the ABS structure does not automatically disqualify ABS classification, but the assessment of derivatives within a structure must be closely considered.
The Cadwalader memo concludes: “Although this guidance is not authoritative and remains subject to public comment and subsequent change, it is helpful in providing assurance that CRTs can qualify for bond treatment.” |
News
ABS
Rock-solid July for primary ABS market
Low volatility and strong investor appetite lure new issuers
The primary ABS market remained robust in July despite the typical summer slowdown, with strong issuance and investor demand across various sectors, according to monthly European and UK factsheets monitored by SCI.
Amundi’s portfolio managers observed significant activity in July, particularly among new ABS issuers capitalising on the relatively low market volatility and high investor appetite. “These transactions have all been well received by the market,” the firm said, emphasising the success of new issuances despite a challenging economic backdrop.
Amundi also acknowledges the ongoing issuance of buy-to-let transactions in the UK, which has persisted despite high interest rates, thanks to the use of older production to meet issuance needs.
TwentyFour AM Momentum Bond Fund’s managers echo this sentiment, observing a healthy pipeline for post-summer activity. They reported that primary issuance YTD reached €90bn, with €11.5bn in ABS issued in July alone.
The firm notes strong performance of collateral deals, with only limited deterioration in riskier pockets like pre-GFC mortgage collateral and certain CMBS. “The market has shown resilience, with supportive macroeconomic conditions and healthy demand for new issuances,” TwentyFour says.
Aegon European ABS Fund’s managers also highlight the strong performance of European ABS markets in July, with tightening spreads and buoyant primary supply despite the summer slowdown. Demand often exceeded supply, reflecting resilience amid macroeconomic uncertainties.
On the fund management front, Amundi remained active in both primary and secondary markets, participating in key issuances in Germany and the UK, while also making opportunistic acquisitions in the competitive secondary market.
Aegon focused on the primary market, increasing AA and BBB exposure and boosting holdings in ABS and CLOs, while reducing CMBS exposure.
While, portfolio managers at TwentyFour focused on rotating assets as the market quietened for the summer. They sold AAA bonds with tightened spreads, reinvesting in shorter mezzanine consumer ABS and BBB CLOs, where spreads appeared attractive, with the purpose of reducing cash holdings and adjusting the portfolio's beta.
As the European ABS markets look ahead to the second half of 2024, all three firms agree on the market's resilience and the opportunities it presents, particularly in light of favourable carry and attractive valuations. Aegon states: “With current income providing a stable return, European ABS is well-positioned to continue delivering attractive total returns for the remainder of the year.”
Fund specifics:
Aegon European ABS Fund returned +0.62% in July 2024. YTD: 5.01%
Fund size: approx. €1.1bn. ABS/MBS allocation: approx. 78%.
Amundi ABS returned +0.60% in July 2024. YTD 4.53%
Fund size: €1.096.16bn. ABS/MBS allocation: 58.59%.
Janus Henderson ABS Fund returned +0.72% in July 2024. YTD: 4.86%
Fund size: £354.24m ABS/MBS allocation: 55.20%.
TwentyFour AM Monument Fund returned +0.61% in July 2024. YTD: %
Fund size: £bn. ABS/MBS allocation: 62%.
Note: Earlier this month, Ostrum AM’s two European ABS funds were transferred to Loomis Sayles, including the Ostrum Euro ABS Fund that we have previously tracked. The information we previously reported is no longer accessible online.
Selvaggia Cataldi
News
Capital Relief Trades
CRT Awards shortlist revealed
Gala dinner to close World Risk Sharing Week
SCI has published the shortlist for this year's Capital Relief Trades Awards, which celebrate excellence and innovation across the global credit risk-sharing industry. Award winners will be revealed during a gala black-tie dinner held at the Royal Institute of British Architects HQ on 17 October, marking the tenth anniversary of SCI’s Annual Capital Relief Trades Seminar and representing a fitting end to World Risk Sharing Week.
Due to the high level of submissions received during the Awards nominations period, we introduced an Emerging Markets Transaction of the Year category. The shortlist for this category showcases a groundbreaking Chilean transaction, as well as landmark deals from Poland and Romania.
The Investor of the Year category, in particular, saw a significant number of submissions – perhaps reflecting the flood of new investor money coming into the SRT sector. As such, the shortlist for this category is the longest and comprises ArrowMark Partners, AXA IM Alts, Magnetar, M&G Investments and PGGM.
Regarding unfunded protection sellers, the shortlist for the (Re)insurer of the Year category consists of Arch Insurance (EU), Fidelis, Liberty Specialty Markets and RenaissanceRe.
Additionally, for the first time, the 2024 CRT Awards include a Newcomer of the Year category. Here, the shortlist highlights: Dentons, for establishing a new SRT practice from scratch (SCI 20 February); EMX Partners, for its new rated repack platform (SCI 16 August); and LuminArx, which was only founded in 3Q23, yet participated in JPMorgan’s blowout Project Appia deal (SCI 12 January).
As well as JPMorgan, BMO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Santander and UniCredit have a significant presence across the shortlists for the arranger, issuer and transaction-related categories. Meanwhile, the law firms shortlisted this year include A&O Shearman, Cadwalader, Clifford Chance, Mayer Brown and Simmons & Simmons.
Once again, innovation across the SRT industry is evident in spades. The Innovation of the Year shortlist highlights Howden’s Granular Portfolio Insurance Product, the ICE DeltaTerra Climate Credit Analytics solution and Tramontana Asset Management’s carbon-backed financing platform.
The Service Provider of the Year shortlist includes Credit Benchmark, Oxane Partners and Milliman. There is no shortlist for the Outstanding Contribution to SRT category, with the winner being announced on the night.
Our thanks to all those who submitted nominations for the Awards. We are also very grateful to our industry advisory panel – comprising Tony Viscardi of ATLAS SP Partners, Matthew Bisanz of Mayer Brown, Olivier Renault of Pemberton Capital Advisors, David Saunders of Santander, Gina Hartnett of Schroders Capital and Alan Ball of Texel – for its invaluable input in finalising the shortlists. Final selections for the Awards will be made by the SCI editorial team, based on colour from other market participants and our own independent reporting.
The headline sponsor of the SCI CRT Awards 2024 is Mayer Brown. An early-bird price for a table of 10 applies until 31 August.
Together with the gala dinner, SCI’s World Risk Sharing Week comprises a two-day programme of training for new entrants to the CRT market, an extended CRT symposium and a Women in Risk Sharing breakfast briefing. For enquiries about any of these events, please email Ieva Nainaite.
News
CLOs
Resilient CLO market in July despite early August volatility
Kartesia sees spreads tightening slightly across capital structure throughout the month
The CLO market demonstrated continued strength in July, with spreads tightening slightly across the capital structure, according to Kartesia, a European specialist provider of capital solutions.
“Euro CLO triple-A spreads closed the month 2.5bps tighter in secondary, and 7bps in primary at DM+97.5/DM+130, respectively,” say head of CLOs Michael Htun and structured credit associate Panagiotis Dounavis in the firm’s monthly structured credit update. “Euro CLO tranches in general have had a strong 2024 with YTD total returns on triple-B/double-B tranches of 7.1%/9.8%.”
However, the start of August brought a brief period of volatility, triggered by weaker macroeconomic data, leading to a sell-off in global equities.
“The VIX index (commonly known as the Wall Street fear gauge) briefly hit its highest level since 2020, before quickly retracing. Equity coupons remain elevated with July payments averaging 18.42% (on par) on an annualised basis for the 2013-2022 cohort. This is down from 21.64% in April 2024 but above expectations for the quarter.”
Average key performance indicators (KPIs) for the CLO market showed some signs of deterioration this month but remained generally healthy, according to the update.
The primary driver of collateral underperformance was Intrum, which was classified as a distressed exchange by two major rating agencies. Consequently, their bonds are now treated as defaulted obligations, marked at the lower of market price or rating agency recovery rate. Additionally, IGM Resins completed its restructuring, moving from the defaulted basket to the triple-C basket.
Despite these challenges, the market's cushions remain robust, with the average interest diversion test (IDT) cushion only declining by 5bps to 3.60%.
This test must be triggered for equity cash flow to be diverted. Managers were also proactive in reducing portfolio risk by selling underperforming credits in July, leading to a decrease in average par build from -0.80% to -0.97% month-on-month (MoM), Kartesia notes.
Furthermore, S&P updated its global CLO default study last month, highlighting that European CLOs had a cumulative default rate of just 0.4% from 2001 to 2023, with speculative-grade tranches recording cumulative defaults of 1.5%.
In terms of European primary CLO issuance, July saw 11 new issues price, with total issuance (including resets and refinancings) up 312% YTD versus 2023.
Total CLO cost of funding has continued to come down throughout the year, from 242bps in January 2024 to 198bps last month, Kartesia states.
Ramla Soni
Market Moves
Structured Finance
CLO analytics firm eyes private credit
Market updates and sector developments
Siepe has raised US$30m in a Series B funding round led by WestCap, which will drive a multi-product roadmap, including the expansion of the firm’s AI and machine learning capabilities. In conjunction with the new funding, Siepe has appointed Mark Schultis – who joined the firm as an advisor in October 2023 – as president.
The Siepe team intends to leverage WestCap's experience in the private markets ecosystem, specifically around financial technology and data management workflows. The firm says it has seen significant growth across technology and service business lines in 1H24 with private credit managers. This includes onboarding 19 CLO and private credit deals with eight top-tier US CLO managers, accounting for over US$7.7bn in new assets under administration.
WestCap's support of Siepe will be led by its founder Laurence Tosi, together with partner, co-coo and head of strategic operators Kevin Marcus, who will join the Siepe board. Additionally, WestCap principal Ryan Benevides will join the Siepe board.
Schultis brings nearly two decades worth of experience in the credit and CLO markets. Previously, he was ceo at SE2, and a partner and svp at IHS Markit running the Wall Street Office business.
In other news…
Trimont bags CMBS servicing business
CRE loan services provider Trimont has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Wells Fargo’s non-agency third-party commercial mortgage servicing (CMS) business, the largest servicer of CMBS in the US. The transaction, backed by Värde Partners, means that Trimont manages a combined US$640bn of US loans - equivalent to approximately 11% of the US commercial real estate lending market – and US$75bn-equivalent of international loans.
Trimont primarily serves non-bank and alternative lenders, while CMS specialises in securitised debt products, including conduit, SASB and agency CMBS, as well as CRE CLOs. This acquisition enables Trimont to offer comprehensive servicing across all non-bank CRE lending structures, including master servicing.
Funding for the transaction will be provided by Värde Partners, which acquired Trimont through certain funds in 2015. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be finalised in early 2025.
Corinne Smith
Market Moves
Structured Finance
Job swaps weekly: Texas Capital bags sales and trading MD
People moves and key promotions in securitisation
A quiet week for securitisation job swaps ahead of the UK’s August bank holiday. Nordea Asset Management is expanding its private credit presence in the Nordic region, while Texas Capital has beefed up its securitisation and whole loan capabilities.
Texas Capital Securities has recruited Craig Meltzer as md, sales and trading, based in New York. He focuses on securitisations and whole loan trading; specifically, providing bespoke structuring solutions to clients for their debt needs, including to fund whole loan acquisitions. Meltzer was previously an md at Tilden Park Capital Management, which he joined in August 2021, having worked at Jefferies, JPMorgan and Bear Stearns before that.
Meanwhile, Nordea Asset Management has promoted Stockholm-based securitised products group associate director, Tom William, to director and fundraising lead for private credit. William will transfer to Nordea’s office in Copenhagen, where he will work to support the expansion of private credit in the Nordic region as an alternative asset class, focusing on private credit, sales and distribution.
Corinne Smith, Claudia Lewis
Market Moves
CMBS
CRE analytics tie-up agreed
Market updates and sector developments
SitusAMC has entered into a strategic partnership with CMBS.com, the owner of Backshop, a commercial real estate loan origination, management and servicing software platform. As part of the partnership, SitusAMC will transition ownership of CLOSER - its CRE origination system – to CMBS.com, provide growth capital and obtain a minority ownership position in CMBS.com. Additionally, SitusAMC will onboard the Backshop platform to support its US asset management offering.
The aim of the partnership is to combine Backshop's robust origination and asset management capabilities with CLOSER's origination capabilities to establish a best-in-class platform that enhances users' ability to originate, manage, model and analyse their CRE portfolios. Backshop was the first web-based software application to model the entire deal stack, from properties to debt to equity. CLOSER streamlines the origination and management of CRE secured debt, supporting circa 35% and 20% of the GSE and CMBS markets respectively.
SitusAMC manages more than US$433bn of unpaid principal balance across the US and Europe. The team comprises more than 550 professionals supporting nearly 100 clients.
Founded in 2000, CMBS.com provides CRE valuation, pipeline, loan origination, asset management and securitisation management software.
Corinne Smith
structuredcreditinvestor.com
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