Asset-Backed Securities and CLOs: Focus on Prepayment and Extension Risk

This Asset-Backed Securities and CLOs sector report is excerpted from the First Quarter 2018 Fixed-Income Outlook.

CLO spreads are at post-crisis tights, having fully recovered from the sharp widening in the first half of 2016. We expect spreads to continue to collapse near pre-crisis levels, with AAA coupons down to Libor plus 50 basis points or potentially tighter. Credit curves have flattened, reducing compensation for structured products relative to corporate debt, and for subordinate versus senior tranches. New primary issuance in 2017 of $118 billion, which ranks as second-highest, was supplemented by $102 billion of refi and $64 billion of reset issuance. Middle-market CLO issuance reached a new peak of $14 billion, and a new peak of 99 managers issued CLOs in 2017. Credit metrics underlying the CLO market remain strong, and increasing diversity in broadly syndicated loan CLOs reduces idiosyncratic credit risk. New-issue CLOs generally price wider than secondary CLOs, but we remain cautious of the asymmetry of return on new-issue CLOs with long reinvestment periods given weak call protection, the ability of managers to extend or shorten portfolio maturity, and our expectation of a credit cycle turn. We are focused on refi and reset transactions with short reinvestment periods (typically two years).

Per the JPM CLOIE indexes, lower-quality CLOs outperformed higher-quality CLOs over the fourth quarter, with BB-rated post-crisis CLOs returning 3.5 percent versus returns of 1.4, 1.0, 0.9, and 0.7 percent for BBB-rated, A-rated, AA-rated, and AAA-rated CLOs, respectively. The broader post-crisis CLO index returned 1.0 percent.

We favor nontraditional ABS sectors given low levels of spreads in traditional auto, credit card, and student loan classes. Whole-business securitization issuance set a new peak of $7.4 billion in 2017, and spreads tightened by approximately 50 basis points in the sector. We continue to focus on top-tier restaurant names and avoid weaker restaurant concepts and non-restaurant issuers. Aircraft ABS also reached a new high of $6 billion new-issue volume, with 10 transactions, six from first-time servicers. We remain focused on very tight structures, strong servicers, and capable and well-resourced equity sponsors. Container ABS issuance and performance strengthened relative to 2016, while railcar ABS remains marred by overcapacity. Triple net-lease ABS has been affected by portfolio and sponsor issues. We continue to be wary of cyclical businesses and securities with extension risk in nontraditional ABS, primarily those related to soft-bullet maturities.

—Matt Lindland, CFA, Senior Managing Director; Michelle Liu, CFA, Director; George Mancheril, Vice President

Important Notices and Disclosures

This article is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investing advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. It contains opinions of the authors but not necessarily those of Guggenheim Partners or its subsidiaries. The authors’ opinions are subject to change without notice. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but are not assured as to accuracy. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Investing involves risk. In general, the value of fixed-income securities fall when interest rates rise. High-yield securities present more liquidity and credit risk than investment grade bonds and may be subject to greater volatility. Asset-backed securities, including mortgage-backed securities, may have structures that make their reaction to interest rates and other factors difficult to predict, making their prices volatile and they are subject to liquidity risk. Investments in floating rate senior secured syndicated bank loans and other floating rate securities involve special types of risks, including credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and prepayment risk. Guggenheim Investments represents the following affiliated investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC: Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, Security Investors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, Guggenheim Real Estate, LLC, GS GAMMA Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited, and Guggenheim Partners India Management. ©2018, Guggenheim Partners, LLC. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of Guggenheim Partners, LLC.

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