09 Jul Voya Senior Loan Group – ‘Talking Points’ Weekly Update (incl. June in Review)
Voya Senior Loan ‘Talking Points’ is a weekly publication from the Voya Senior Loan Team Heads, which provides key insights and results in the Senior Loan marketplace.
Quiet But Constructive
An auspicious “Brexit exit” (thus far, at least) and a continued lull in the forward pipeline combined for a strong but subdued holiday week for the U.S. loan market. The Index returned 0.28%, while the average Index bid increased eight bps, to 93.29.
On the new issue side, a few protracted second quarter deals were pulled across the finish line. Still, organic new issue transactions remain sparse. Existing loan prices remained generally firm as investors were forced into the secondary market to put cash to work. As a result, many par loans are now back to their pre-Brexit levels.
June in Review
Several themes were at work throughout June, and despite the headline-dominating Brexit vote, the loan market stayed fundamentally on course, albeit with caution and an eye toward the macro state of play. Despite heavy capital markets volatility, loans stayed in the black for the month, returning 0.02%. YTD Index returns of 4.51% are slightly above May month-end, but are a significant increase from the 2.83% return realised by this time last year.