New CLO managers flock to Europe to prey on downgrades

The European CLO market is marking the new year by bracing itself for a series of corporate downgrades. Ellington, a US CLO manager, has been sounding out the European market about bringing an ‘enhanced CLO’ in the first half of the year, which would allow for up to 50% of the portfolio to be debt rated triple-C or below, a far cry from the standard 7.5%.