News & Analysis

 
In the first episode of Season 7, we take a look at the clouds gathering in the US and European leveraged loan markets. In the US market, we discuss sector-specific stress (3:00), our restructuring watch list (4:52), the near-term maturity wall (6:30), the CLO market (9:11), and secondary market gains in 2023 (10:35). We then discuss the European market (11:34), looking at the maturity wall (11:59), loan issuance (13:10), our loan market survey (14:30), and the credit quality of loans in the European Leveraged Loan Index (21:07). Our research analysts cap the episode with key indicators to track going forward (24:00).
 

Additional resources

• PitchBook/LCD webinar: 2022 US leveraged loan and private credit market analysis and 2023 outlook
• LCD US Leveraged Finance Survey infographic
• LCD European Leveraged Finance Survey infographic
• 2023 US Leveraged Finance Survey: Stress may be less severe, but longer-lasting
• US high-yield distressed ranks soar in 2022, highlighting evolving market stress
• Credit quality declines for European leveraged loans amid ratings shift
   

In this episode

Brenn Jones is the senior news desk manager for PitchBook/LCD. Brenn has been part of the LCD news team since 2007. In addition to his work in leveraged finance, Brenn has written book reviews and sports articles for numerous publications and is a podcast host with Cloud259.


Rachelle specializes in data-driven trend analysis and commentary on the leveraged finance markets, focusing her efforts on showcasing developments and movements as tracked by LCD's credit market data, and the Morningstar LSTA Leveraged Loan Index—a widely used proxy for the $1.4 trillion leveraged loan market.

After joining S&P/LCD in 2014, Rachelle honed her leveraged finance background covering the distressed debt market; placing particular emphasis on unearthing the detail behind the balance sheet maneuvers of companies on the brink and market-moving trends as they relate to stress identifiers in broader market indices. Before joining LCD, Rachelle wrote for Reuters and IFR on the US high-yield corporate bond market in New York, and prior to that on sovereign and covered bonds as a markets reporter in London. Rachelle got her start as a research analyst at Thomson Financial and post-graduate roles at UBS and WestLB.


Taron is head of credit research, EMEA for PitchBook/LCD in London. Prior to joining PitchBook in June, Taron worked in credit research for S&P Global for 15 years, in both the ratings division and at LCD. Before S&P, she was a financial journalist for Breakingviews and Euromoney's GlobalCapital in London, and began her career in New York in Euromoney Institutional Investor's newsletters division. Taron has a bachelor's degree in applied economics and business management from Cornell University.