The latest rally in US mid-market collateralised mortgage obligations (CLOs) is unlikely to final, in line with S&P International Scores evaluation.
The market had a bumper first quarter of 2025, boosted by energetic issuance and rising demand for personal credit score.
Defaults fell amid improved market situations, the report stated. Ranking efficiency remained resilient through the first quarter, with downgrades slowing to the bottom degree since 2023.
Learn extra: Audax refinances two mid-market CLOs
Nonetheless, US President Donald Trump’s tariff bulletins since early April have sparked widespread market volatility, with altering insurance policies prompting a interval of extended uncertainty.
“The first influence of tariffs on the credit score estimated corporations in S&P International Scores’ middle-market CLO universe has so far been restricted, given the portfolio’s focus in service-oriented sectors together with software program, well being care, {and professional} providers,” the report stated.
Learn extra: Morgan Stanley IM closes first CLO of 2025
“However second-order results might weigh extra closely on middle-market borrower efficiency transferring ahead.
“Broader financial developments will affect not solely progress and consumption, but in addition price of funding for the center market, the place loans are predominantly secured floating-rate devices tied to benchmark charges set by the Federal Reserve.
“We anticipate tariff-driven worth will increase will elevate core inflation, and this will end in fewer rate of interest cuts this yr than traders had anticipated. Debtors whose money flows are already strained by elevated curiosity fees would expertise exacerbated difficulties.”
Learn extra: Permira Credit score costs second US CLO at $404m
Nonetheless, the evaluation went on to say that the repercussions of tariffs “could also be tempered” on the center market, as many CLOs are centered on less-effected sectors resembling software program and healthcare, that aren’t immediately disrupted in international provide chains.
