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☆ Hartford Total Return Bond ETF yields nearly 5% and prides itself on finding value across the market
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

HTRB saw a total return last year of 7.15%, and ranked in the 23rd percentile among its peers, according to Morningstar. The portfolio has 51% of its assets in mortgage-backed securities and 25% in investment-grade credit, according to the fund's website. Compared to many of its peers in the intermediate core plus bond Morningstar category, Hartford Total Return Bond ETF leans a bit more on securitized markets instead of investment-grade corporate debt, according to Morningstar. Finding opportunities Right now, one of the areas Goodman sees value in is agency mortgage-backed securities. Goodman also likes structured finance right now, like collateralized loan obligations, commercial mortgage-backed securities and nonagency residential mortgage-backed securities.

Persons: Campe Goodman, Morningstar, Goodman, HTRB, Morningstar . Goodman, Mike Mulach, Bonds, Fitch Organizations: Hartford, SEC, Wellington, Bloomberg U.S, Morningstar, BB, Poor's, Federal Reserve Locations: Wellington, Eastern Europe

These deals help banks meet capital requirements more efficiently, allowing them to keep lucrative businesses that would otherwise become unprofitable. Investors in these deals include lightly-regulated entities like hedge funds, shifting risk to the shadow banking sector. Credit risk transfer is another tool for them to pursue after the Fed’s clarification on what is allowed, said Cory Wishengrad, head of fixed income at Guggenheim Securities. That means Merchants sold the riskiest tranche of the loan portfolio, maximizing the capital relief it could get on it. Whether U.S. regulators will allow such insurance deals to qualify for capital relief is still untested, Staudinger said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Jill Cetina, Jon, Claude Zucconi, Zucconi, Michael Barr, Barr, Banks, Missy Dolski, Sam Graziano, Graziano, Cory Wishengrad, Jed Miller, Taft, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, Deborah Staudinger, Hogan Lovells, Staudinger, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Blackstone Group, JPMorgan Chase, Merchants Bank of Indiana, US Bancorp, Investors, JPMorgan, Merchants Bank, Federal Reserve, Varde Partners, Financial, Guggenheim Securities, U.S . Bank, Fed, Reuters, Merchants, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wickersham, Europe, Indiana

☆ Exclusive: Bayer holds call with bond investors after raft of bad news
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bad news prompted some bond investors to question whether Bayer should sweeten the terms of the deal or outright pull it, one of the sources said. The drug-to-pesticides group priced the investment grade bond on Thursday last week, with the deal closing on Tuesday. Bayer priced bonds with maturities between three to 30 years. It was the 10th largest investment grade bond deal by an industrial company this year and attracted more than $22 billion in orders, according to Informa Global Markets. The events were "not enough to trigger a material adverse change clause in bond documents for investors to ask to be paid back," said CreditSights' Brady.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Bayer, Andrew Brady, CreditSights, JP Morgan, Wells, Brady, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Ludwig Burger, Mike Erman, Paritosh Bansal, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Bayer AG, REUTERS, Bayer, Nomura Holdings, Informa Global Markets, Citigroup, Nikko Securities America, RIC, Thomson Locations: Leverkusen, Germany, Seattle

☆ Liquidity gridlock worsens in US commercial real estate sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

And those workouts are becoming mathematically untenable even for private lenders. Borrowing costs for the CRE market have risen more than income, a situation prompted by the steepest jump in interest rates in decades. NO REAL OPTIONRising caution among private lenders will worsen the paucity of liquidity for property owners who have no real exit option. Some private lenders faced the risk of ending up paring their portfolios that were expensive to manage, he added. But the firm's head of commercial real estate economics Thomas LaSalvia said probability of a contagion effect was low.

Persons: Mike Comparato, Jeff Holzmann, Razmig Boladian, Claudia Faust, Alex Horn, Horn, Jay Hiemenz, Thomas LaSalvia, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Anna Driver Organizations: Realty Trust, RREAF Holdings, Rubicon Point Partners, Hawkeye Partners, Thomson Locations: Franklin, Texas

But they are going only as far as the safest bets in the junk category, bonds rated BB and B. Junk bond spreads, the additional interest rate investors demand over safe Treasury bonds, tightened sharply. The spreads of those rated BB and B, or the higher rungs of junk, had tightened 47-52 basis points last week, according to Informa Global Markets data. Four junk bond issuers – Bombardier (BBDb.TO), Venture Global LNG, Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete and InfraBuild Australia - announced bond offerings on Monday. The spotty access to bond markets does not bode well for poorly rated companies.

Persons: Rick Wilking, ”, Edward Marrinan, Peter Knapp, Winnie Cisar, bode, Morgan Stanley, Moody's, Manuel Hayes, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Andrea Ricci Organizations: REUTERS, Federal, Nikko Securities Americas, Investors, JPMorgan, Informa, CCC, Bombardier, Venture Global LNG, “, London, Insight Investment, Barclays, Thomson Locations: Westminster , Colorado, Smyrna, Australia

☆ Moody's creates private credit rating and research group
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | Thomson Reuters | Tatiana Bautzer Is A U.S. Banking Correspondent At Reuters In New York. She Previously Covered Banks In Brazil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's (MCO.N) is creating a unit to research and rate private credit, the firm said on Monday. The global private credit market, with more than $1.3 trillion in assets under management, makes up about 12% of the alternatives market, investment firm BlackRock said in a recent report. Private credit is largely owned by buy-and-holdinvestors such as pension funds, endowments, foundations and insurance companies, the report said. "The rapid growth of the private credit market in recent years has introduced new challenges and opportunities for investors, who are looking for fresh analysis from a trusted source," said Moody's president Michael West. The private credit group will have a team of more than 50 analysts in different geographies looking into private credit in institutions such as business development companies, collateralized loan obligations, insurance and asset management companies.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Ana Arsov, BlackRock, Michael West, Moody's, Arsov, Simon Harris, Tatiana Bautzer, Rod Nickel Organizations: Moody's Corporation, REUTERS, Moody's Investors Service, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S

☆ Analysis: WeWork's troubles darken outlook for embattled office market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Sinead Cruise | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Backed by Japan's SoftBank, WeWork aimed to revolutionise the office market by taking long leases on large properties and renting the space to multiple smaller businesses on more flexible, shorter arrangements. Some leveraged property investors could struggle to earn enough rental income to service rising debt costs, they said. The number and volume of real estate loans due for refinancing in 2024 is unclear because many deals are struck privately between borrower and lender, Ed Daubeney, co-head, debt and structured finance, EMEA, at real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, told Reuters. U.S. industrial and office real estate investment trusts (REITs) were seen 35.8% more likely to default, versus expectations a year ago. "We're at a massive turning point in the real estate investment market globally," Jose Pellicer, head of real estate strategy at M&G Real Estate, said.

Persons: Kate Munsch, Japan's SoftBank, WeWork, Jeffrey Havsy, Ed Daubeney, Jones Lang LaSalle, Savills, refinancings, What's, MSCI, Jefferies, Jose Pellicer, Sinead Cruise, Elisa Martinuzzi, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Media, Real Estate, Reuters, Analysts, Europe, Flex, BNP, G, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, York, New York, London, United States, Europe, Britain, Germany, California

☆ WeWork's troubles darken outlook for embattled office market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Sinead Cruise | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Analysis: Three years after DirectBooks, US bond market still phoning it in
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | Thomson Reuters | Shankar Ramakrishnan Has Nearly Years Of Financial Journalism Experience In Writing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

There is also some concern about job losses and loss of market access by smaller banks. Changing an organization's behavior is difficult and takes sustained effort, said DirectBooks CEO Rich Kerschner. Interest in automation grew as desks struggled with corporate bond volumes that touched a record $1.78 trillion in 2020. Three years into it, only a small proportion of orders and allocation messages for a new bond were going through DirectBooks. Once in place, hundreds of investors using OMS platforms could send their order messages and receive allocation messages through DirectBooks, said Kerschner.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Rich Kerschner, Spencer Lee, salespeople, Daniel Botoff, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, DirectBooks, Chris Sztam, BlackRock's Aladdin, RBC's Botoff, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Anna Driver Organizations: New York Stock, REUTERS, Bloomberg, underwriters, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, P Global Market Intelligence, Development, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, Wells, DirectBooks, Charles

☆ This startup wants to make nature a balance sheet-grade asset. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck The Landbanking Group used to raise $11 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A climate fintech startup that wants to make nature a balance sheet-grade asset has just raised $11 million in seed funding. The Landbanking Group, founded in 2022, has created a software platform for land owners and investors. These assets can then be sold on to the likes of investors or corporations set on decarbonizing their supply chains. But in compensation markets, "you need to do harm first, for you to have an incentive to actually engage with nature," Stuchtey said. From there, the startup is positioning itself as a depository bank where nature assets are held, exchanged, and settled.

Persons: Martin Stuchtey, Sonja Stuchtey, Stuchtey Organizations: McKinsey, Force, 4P Capital Locations: Munich

By doing so, if they get capital relief, they would reduce the capital they need to keep against them for regulatory capital purposes, according to banking industry sources. “There has certainly been growing interest in these transactions as banks seek regulatory capital relief," said Missy Dolski, global head of capital markets at alternative investment firm Varde Partners, an active investor in such products. "This guidance makes it more clear what structures would need affirmative approval for capital relief and what is required to comply," she added. Directly issued credit-linked notes could also qualify but would need to be approved by the Fed, said the Q&A. These clarifications come after growing calls for clarity on which of these bespoke trades issued by U.S. banks would qualify for capital relief, the banking industry sources said.

Persons: Missy Dolski, Michael Bright, ”, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Megan Davies, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Federal Reserve, Varde Partners, Fed, SPV, Structured Finance Association, European Central Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Major U.S

☆ Bank of America says now is the time to buy these three home improvement stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cooling inflationary pressures and strengthening home values are likely to spell a recovery for home improvement retailers sooner rather than later, according to Bank of America. Although the firm's indicator for the home improvement industry still came in negative for August 2023, the signal ticked up from its July reading. "Strength in home values should lend longer-term stability for home improvement demand," Suzuki wrote. Suzuki's $114 price target for Floor & Décor suggests almost 24% upside from its closing price of $92 Monday. BofA cited FND's growing number of stores and improved same-store sales growth.

Persons: Elizabeth Suzuki, Lowe, BofA, Suzuki, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Bank of America, U.S . Mortgage, Finance Research Locations: 1H23, 2H23, Monday's

☆ Here's why some economists are concerned student loans may cause the next big bubble
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Juhohn Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Billions of dollars worth of student loans are packed and sold as assets known as student loan asset-backed securities to some of the biggest investors in America. But as student loans continue to balloon, experts have expressed growing concerns surrounding the SLABS market. She continued, "I think one of the key ways to uncover the similarities between student loans and mortgages is to look at the affordability issue." But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that one in five student loan borrowers have risk factors that could cause them to struggle when federal student loan payments resume in October. Watch the video to learn more about why experts are concerned about the state of the SLABS market.

Persons: Louis, Allison Pyburn, Eleanor Xu, Elen Callahan, Xu Organizations: U.S, Federal Reserve Bank of St, U.S . Department of Education, Financial, Seton Hall University, Structured Finance Locations: America

☆ Are office buildings the next 'Big Short' or the next widow-maker trade? The trader behind the ubersuccessful mall short shares his playbook for making money without flaming out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Dan McNamara's Polpo Capital is shorting office real estate, a risky move that could be lucrative. If you're looking for a doomsday vision of commercial real estate, you can find it there. "I don't think this is the 'Big Short,'" McNamara told me. This doesn't mean he doesn't have a game plan to make money off cultural shifts that could forever change the state of commercial real estate. Lucas Jackson/ReutersWhere he's going longOne risk of shorting real estate is that it's more susceptible to what's known in real-estate circles as "extend and pretend."

Persons: Dan McNamara's, McNamara, it's, It's, shorting, Carl Icahn, Jim Chanos, Brendan McDermid, Dan McNamara, McNamara's, Braver Stern, Dan McNamara McNamara's, suede loafers, McNamara didn't, Josh Nester, Polpo, he's, Morgan Stanley, Kamil Sadik, Lucas Jackson, Manus Clancy, You've, David Tepper's, Trepp's Clancy, Clancy, David Tepper Organizations: Central Park, New, Polpo, New York University, Columbia, Kynikos Associates, Enron, Asset Management, Reuters, UBS, Co, Societe Generale, Securitized Credit Partners, Credit Suisse, MP, Fund, Bloomberg, of America, Simon Property, Federal Locations: Manhattan, Sixth, Central, New York City, New York, MatlinPatterson, America, China, Italy, Westchester , New York, Tribeca, York, Westchester, Waterford , Connecticut, Baltimore, San Francisco

☆ Credit Suisse's investment bankers are so concerned about cuts, employees are being told to look for new jobs. 'They encouraged it.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Carter Johnson | Casey Sullivan | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The fate of Credit Suisse's investment bank hangs in the balance after being sold to UBS. The investment bank's planned spinoff has been put on hold and bankers are bracing for job cuts. People said they expect Credit Suisse's planned spinoff of its investment banking operations, announced last year, to be scuttled. Over at 11 Madison Ave., where Credit Suisse's NY operations are headquartered, emotions were running hot on Monday. Now, the proposed CS First Boston deal hangs in the balance, with both industry experts and Credit Suisse employees uncertain whether it will go through.

☆ BNP Paribas Italy names ex-Intesa banker Lattuada as CIB deputy head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas Italy (BNPP.PA) said on Thursday it had named Marco Lattuada as deputy head of its corporate and institutional banking division in the country, reporting to CIB Italy Executive Chairman Vittorio Ogliengo. Lattuada was the former global head of investment banking and structured finance at Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), in whose CIB division he had previously headed the telecoms, media and technology sectors. Prior to that he was senior director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch global investment banking and vice president at Bank of America CIB. Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Francesca LandiniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A court just ruled that CFPB's funding is unconstitutional, and that could be 'catastrophic' for mortgage markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Stephanie Dhue | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Mortgage rules at riskIf the agency's legal authority is undermined, it could have a profound affect on home lending markets — an industry that's prone to disruption when laws are murky, especially as interest rates rise. That extended the potential damages to the Wall Street banks as well as mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Appeal likelyIf the Fifth Circuit decision is upheld, it could call into question those long-standing mortgage rules. "The loss of the CFPB mortgage regulations and the effect on the market would catastrophic," said Andreano. "Potential changes in how the CFPB are funded aren't likely to have an immediate effect on the mortgage market."

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