Europe

European banks’ tighter lending standards are chipping away at corporate loan volumes and adding to the uncertainty surrounding the ECB’s inflation projections due later this month, says Felipe Villarroel.

February was a nasty throwback to the sort of market conditions that battered fixed income in 2022, but the pull-back has given anyone worried they’d missed the January rally an even better opportunity, says Charlene Malik.

With cheap central bank funding fading, European ABS issuers are back to placing deals in the primary market and broadening the range of liquid assets available to investors, says Doug Charleston.

While corporate fundamentals are expected to deteriorate as rate hikes hit the economy, many metrics are pointing to record strength in the European high yield space, says George Curtis.

With commercial real estate continuing to suffer the effects of the COVID pandemic and inflation, Elena Rinaldi looks at one CMBS transaction highlighting the challenges facing the asset class.

Having done its job of delivering lower volatility and better performance than mainstream bond markets in 2022, the income and defensive characteristics of European ABS look equally compelling in 2023, says Doug Charleston.

With commercial real estate seen to be in the eye of the storm as interest rates rise, Aza Teeuwen looks at the potential impact on CMBS and CRE loans and highlights where valuations could be most at risk.

European ABS is enjoying a spurt of new issuance and a parallel rally in spreads, with investors having entered the new year with cash to invest and buoyed by renewed hope around inflation and monetary policy, says Pauline Quirin.

With projections for European growth and inflation being hastily revised in early 2023, the region’s bonds are still paying investors a premium that may not be around for long, says Dillon Lancaster.

After shocking investors in November by floating the idea of deferring its hybrid coupons, AroundTown has begun 2023 in similar fashion with a senior bond tender, says Pierre Beniguel.

In our latest blog, Pierre Beniguel looks at the implications of AroundTown’s corporate hybrid non-call and the shock announcement that it will also consider deferring coupon payments.

In our annual ‘Rodney Blog’, Eoin Walsh says that with rates now offering both yield and downside mitigation, and credit yields at near-decade highs, fixed income investors could enjoy strong returns in 2023