US CLOs & Leveraged Loans Conference
The Road Traveled | The Road Ahead
We are excited to welcome you back to our 7 WTC headquarters for a timely, in-person conversation on the credit performance of leveraged lending and CLO credits in the recent past, the months ahead, and into next year.
Agenda
13.30
EDT
Registration
14.00
- 14.45
EDT
Moody's Analytics Workshop: Dynamic ESG & Advanced Credit Analysis for CLOs
Registration is required to attend the workshop
14.45
- 15.00
EDT
Networking Break
15.25
- 16.10
EDT
Multiple Headwinds to Challenge Low-Rated Corporate Issuers
While corporate issuers are well-positioned to handle a modest downturn and rising rates, protracted economic weakness will likely lead to increasing downgrades and defaults as well as to higher firmwide LGDs. Cyclical and confidence-sensitive sectors are showing greater vulnerability and private equity-backed issuers dominate the loan market and lower rungs of spec grade. Covenant flexibility will facilitate their shareholder-oriented financial engineering.
- While current conditions reflect sufficient intrinsic liquidity, how will the deteriorating economic and credit environment impact already weak rating quality?
- How will the myriad weaknesses we’ve observed in our review of credit agreement term sheets manifest in a downturn?
- What is the outlook for the LGDs of senior secured leverage loans given the predominance of bank debt and modest levels of structurally subordinated debt on most loan issuers’ balance sheets?
16.10
- 16.55
EDT
Lessons from the Past for the Future – How Will CLOs Weather the Next Challenge?
CLOs have demonstrated strong performance in past economic cycles thanks in part to structural protections and manager experiences. But, while recovering swiftly from the 2020 pandemic downturn, CLOs amassed even greater portions of B3-rated debt than their pre-pandemic levels. With a potential looming downturn, CLOs will be tested again in their ability to navigate the challenges of higher interest rates, inflation, and corporate credit deterioration, as well as to seize opportunities
- How will the next downturn be different for CLOs in terms of risk from credit deterioration in their portfolios as well as opportunities from participating in distressed assets?
- To what degree will potential leveraged loan credit deterioration affect CLO tranche performance and put constraints on managers?
- What new tools and strategies do managers intend to employ when faced with potentially worsening CLO collateral quality and new challenges?
- Will the various CLO structures, such as static and managed broadly syndicated CLOs, CBOs, and middle market CLOs, perform differently and what are their respective advantages?
17.00
- 18.00
EDT
Networking Reception
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Peter focuses on the CLO market at Moody’s Analytics via the further development of the Structured Finance Portal’s CLO section and related research.
Mr. Sallerson began his finance career in the Corporate Finance Department at Nomura Securities where he executed numerous debt, equity, and derivative transactions as well as a variety of domestic and international structured financings. At Bear Stearns for 14 years, Mr. Sallerson structured transactions for a variety of collateral types with an emphasis beginning in 1995 on CLOs and CSOs. He was a founding member of the CLO group at Bear. Subsequent to Bear, he ran Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA)’s CLO effort and advised its parent (BTMU) on its CLO investment activities for 3 years.
Mr. Sallerson graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College and his M.B.A. is with honors from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Arlene Kearns is a Senior Director in the Structured Finance business of Moody’s Analytics. She is responsible for driving business and product initiatives that will grow the Structured Finance Product Suite globally.
Prior to joining Moody’s in 2010, Arlene held Structured Finance positions at Banc of America Securities, Lehman Brothers and Standard & Poor’s. Her experience spans banking, credit analysis, proprietary trading, and M&A.
Arlene earned a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Annabel Schaafsma is a Managing Director and Global Head of the Structured Finance Group within Ratings and Research. She is responsible for a global team that both assign primary ratings as well as the surveillance of existing ratings covering all asset types including Asset Backed Securities, Corporate and Residential Mortgage Backed Securities, Structured Credit and Covered Bonds.
Annabel has many years of experience in credit analysis, as well as managing credit professionals. Annabel first joined Moody’s in 2001 in the Structured Finance Group where she went onto leading teams assigning Primary ratings to Residential Mortgage Backed securities and the surveillance of Consumer Asset Backed Securities in EMEA. Prior to her current role she worked in Credit Strategy and Standards Group responsible for the Methodology Development Group. Prior to joining Moody’s Annabel worked for Credit Suisse in the Credit Risk Management department in various roles in London and New York. In 2006 Annabel joined Standard Chartered Bank as Head of Credit Research for the Structured Credit Investment team that invested in structured finance instruments. Before re-joining Moody’s in 2010, Annabel was head of Traded Credit Risk Management for Standard Chartered Bank in London responsible for the identification and analysis of credit risks within the firm’s trading business.
Annabel is passionate about diversity and inclusion; she is the executive sponsor of the Moody’s UK Women’s Business Resource Group. Annabel holds an undergraduate degree in Economics focused in finance and accountancy from Manchester University
Richard Cantor is Vice Chairman of Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and a key external spokesperson for the credit rating agency on market developments with investors, regulators, academics, and other market participants. He is particularly focused on shaping the methodological approaches employed by the company in ESG- and climate-related markets. Mr. Cantor also serves as Chair of the US National Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), and International Co-Chair of PECC.
Prior to his current role, from 2008-2022, Mr. Cantor served as MIS’ Chief Credit Officer and was responsible for the rating agency’s global credit strategy and thematic research, the quality and consistency of its ratings across regions and sectors, and the procedures, methodologies, models, and tools used in the determination of ratings. Concurrently, from 2009 to 2019, Mr. Cantor also served as Moody’s Corporation’s Chief Risk Officer and in this role, led the firm’s global risk management function.
Mr. Cantor was appointed in 2015 by the U.S. State Department to a three-year term on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), during which he chaired ABAC’s Financial and Economic Working Group.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Mr. Cantor held a variety of positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, including in the Capital Markets Group and the Discount Window, and was an adjunct professor at New York University and Columbia University’s business schools. He has also taught Economics at UCLA and The Ohio State University. Mr. Cantor holds BA degrees in English and Economics from Tufts University and a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University
Christina Padgett is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group and leads the Leveraged Finance Research and Analytics team. She spends most of her time chairing speculative grade rating committees and producing credit research with a focus on the leveraged finance market and private equity.
Before joining Moody’s, Christina was a vice president at JPMorganChase in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Prior to her experience in investment banking, Christina finished the bank’s Credit Training program and worked in Europe Corporate Finance and Credit Audit. She received a Masters in International Political Economy from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in History from William Smith College.
Julia Chursin is an Vice President - Senior Analyst in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group (CFG) that produces research on corporate defaults and recoveries and trends in high-yield/ leveraged finance space. She is also responsible for collecting, maintaining and analyzing data in Moody's Ultimate Recovery Database used to support Moody’s LGD Assessments (LGDAs), as well as other products/services at Moody’s Analytics.
Julia has both co-authored and published her own special comments/research on default-recovery trends across various sectors and involving various types of debt facilities. Notably, her own publications and other special comments she co–wrote with Moody’s senior analysts have been featured among Moody’s high-profile research in top-tier media outlets. Julia has directly contributed to greater visibility of Moody’s B3 Negative and Lower Ratings List among investors and the media by publishing quarterly special comments, monthly newsletters and creating comprehensive data visualizations.
Julia joined Moody’s CFG in January 2013 from Moody’s Public Finance Commercial group, where she handled various aspects of business and pricing relationships with rated issuers and their bankers/financial advisors.
Prior to joining Moody’s in September 2010, Julia worked as an investment associate at UBS Financial Services, where she supported a wealth management team in various aspects of the business involving execution of investment strategies and development of asset allocation models for portfolios of high- net-worth clients, in addition to researching and analyzing performance of various investment vehicles/products.
Julia received her MBA in Finance from Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College (CUNY).
Derek Gluckman is a Vice President – Senior Covenant Officer in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group. Derek specializes in covenant analysis and research, with particular focus on leveraged loans.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Derek was a managing associate in the banking and finance practice group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP and was previously an associate in the leveraged finance and transportation finance practice groups at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. His practice focused primarily on representing agents and lenders in commercial banking transactions.
Derek holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.S. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Neha Khoda is the Head of Loan Strategy at Bank of America Global Research. She is responsible for generating views and forecasts for the US and European Loan markets and their relative value with other asset classes. In her role, she covers loans across institutional, bank, private debt and middle markets. Her flagship publication is Collateral Thinking, a loan market-focused report. The team also produces thematic content and relative value reports across credit. Her work has previously been used as academic course material, and she is regularly featured in the mainstream media. In the Institutional Investor Fixed-Income Research Poll for research analysts, she was ranked #1 in 2021 under Loan Strategy. Neha has a bachelor's in computer science from the National University of Singapore, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is based in New York.
Al Remeza is an Associate Managing Director and Head of the CLO and Structured Credit new rating team with Moody's Investors Service. He is also the managing editor for Moody’s CLO Interest newsletter.
Prior to joining Moody’s, he was a Senior Consultant at one of Mercer’s financial advisory consulting groups. His clients were financial institutions such as major investment banks, reinsurance, and insurance companies, energy and commodities trading firms, quasi-government agencies, and numerous other Fortune 500 firms.
His other experiences include working for Credit Suisse First Boston and Alliance Capital. He earned an MA in Economics, a BS in Economics, and a BS in Engineering and did his doctoral work in finance while at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Aniket Deshpande is a Senior Credit Officer and Manager for the US Structured Credit team, which covers over 1300 US CLOs. In his current role at Moody’s, Aniket has extensively contributed to multiple thematic CLO research and newsletters, many of which have been featured by top-tier media outlets. He also speaks frequently on Moody’s behalf at industry events and serves as chair for CLO rating committees. In his previous role at Moody’s, Aniket has served as lead rating analyst for securitizations backed by multiple asset types.
Prior to joining Moody’s in 2010, Aniket held positions as an investment analyst at Dynamic Credit Partners, LLC., a fund manager investing in a wide range of CLO and structured finance securities, and as a trader for government-issued bonds at a boutique investment bank in Mumbai, India.
Aniket holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai, India. Aniket is also a CFA charter holder.
Jessica Gladstone, an Associate Managing Director, is currently responsible for managing the aerospace, defense and manufacturing team. Previously, she managed the Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals team, both within the Corporate Finance Group. Prior to becoming a manager, Jessica was a senior analyst covering companies across the healthcare sector, including hospitals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare services providers.
Before joining Moody’s in 2006, Jessica worked in the investment banking group of BMO Capital Markets performing sell-side equity research on the medical device sector. Prior to that, Jessica worked at McKinsey & Co. in the Corporate Finance Group, providing valuation analysis and management consulting services to corporate clients.
Jessica graduated with honors from Vassar College with a dual degree in Biology and French. She is also a designated CFA charter-holder
Serhan Secmen is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of US CLOs at Napier Park Global Capital (“Napier Park”). Napier Park separated from Citigroup’s alternative investment arm, Citi Capital Advisors (“CCA”), in February 2013. Prior to joining Citi Capital Advisors in August 2008, Serhan was a CLO trader at Lehman Brothers. Prior to his post at Lehman Brothers, he spent several years in Texas as a project manager focusing on special project financing. During his tenure at Napier Park, Serhan has assisted in the development of multiple proprietary analytics systems and has been influential in the various strategies and methodologies for analyzing CLOs and other structured products. Since 2006, Serhan has also been involved in various industry forums and networks, including the investor roundtables for Moody's, S&P, and Fitch Ratings. He frequently appears as a speaker at multiple industry conferences and panels. Serhan holds an MBA degree from Wharton School of Business, an MS degree from Texas A&M University, and a BS degree from Bogazici University in Turkey.
Navneet Agarwal is a Managing Director and heads Moody’s Structured Finance Primary Ratings for the Americas and Other Permissible Services for structured finance globally.
Navneet’s previous roles at Moody’s include leading the company’s US RMBS New Ratings, the surveillance function for Moody’s US Asset Finance Group and a CLO surveillance team. In past, he has also headed methodology development for structured finance in addition to setting up an analytical technology group. Navneet has published and presented extensively on behalf of Moody’s.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Navneet spent seven years as the Head of Debt Syndication with a boutique investment bank in India, where he also managed a proprietary book. Navneet has worked with Unit Trust of India (T. Rowe Price’s India affiliate) as an Investment Manager, as well as with Banc of America Securities. Navneet served as a member of the Board of Directors of ICRA, a publicly listed rating and analytics company in India.
Navneet received an M.B.A. with Honors from The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. He also holds master’s from the University of Mumbai and a B.S. from the University of Delhi. Navneet is also a CFA charter holder.
Christina Padgett is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group and leads the Leveraged Finance Research and Analytics team. She spends most of her time chairing speculative grade rating committees and producing credit research with a focus on the leveraged finance market and private equity.
Before joining Moody’s, Christina was a vice president at JPMorganChase in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Prior to her experience in investment banking, Christina finished the bank’s Credit Training program and worked in Europe Corporate Finance and Credit Audit. She received a Masters in International Political Economy from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in History from William Smith College.
Julia Chursin is an Vice President - Senior Analyst in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group (CFG) that produces research on corporate defaults and recoveries and trends in high-yield/ leveraged finance space. She is also responsible for collecting, maintaining and analyzing data in Moody's Ultimate Recovery Database used to support Moody’s LGD Assessments (LGDAs), as well as other products/services at Moody’s Analytics.
Julia has both co-authored and published her own special comments/research on default-recovery trends across various sectors and involving various types of debt facilities. Notably, her own publications and other special comments she co–wrote with Moody’s senior analysts have been featured among Moody’s high-profile research in top-tier media outlets. Julia has directly contributed to greater visibility of Moody’s B3 Negative and Lower Ratings List among investors and the media by publishing quarterly special comments, monthly newsletters and creating comprehensive data visualizations.
Julia joined Moody’s CFG in January 2013 from Moody’s Public Finance Commercial group, where she handled various aspects of business and pricing relationships with rated issuers and their bankers/financial advisors.
Prior to joining Moody’s in September 2010, Julia worked as an investment associate at UBS Financial Services, where she supported a wealth management team in various aspects of the business involving execution of investment strategies and development of asset allocation models for portfolios of high- net-worth clients, in addition to researching and analyzing performance of various investment vehicles/products.
Julia received her MBA in Finance from Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College (CUNY).
Richard Cantor is Vice Chairman of Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and a key external spokesperson for the credit rating agency on market developments with investors, regulators, academics, and other market participants. He is particularly focused on shaping the methodological approaches employed by the company in ESG- and climate-related markets. Mr. Cantor also serves as Chair of the US National Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), and International Co-Chair of PECC.
Prior to his current role, from 2008-2022, Mr. Cantor served as MIS’ Chief Credit Officer and was responsible for the rating agency’s global credit strategy and thematic research, the quality and consistency of its ratings across regions and sectors, and the procedures, methodologies, models, and tools used in the determination of ratings. Concurrently, from 2009 to 2019, Mr. Cantor also served as Moody’s Corporation’s Chief Risk Officer and in this role, led the firm’s global risk management function.
Mr. Cantor was appointed in 2015 by the U.S. State Department to a three-year term on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), during which he chaired ABAC’s Financial and Economic Working Group.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Mr. Cantor held a variety of positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, including in the Capital Markets Group and the Discount Window, and was an adjunct professor at New York University and Columbia University’s business schools. He has also taught Economics at UCLA and The Ohio State University. Mr. Cantor holds BA degrees in English and Economics from Tufts University and a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University
Derek Gluckman is a Vice President – Senior Covenant Officer in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group. Derek specializes in covenant analysis and research, with particular focus on leveraged loans.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Derek was a managing associate in the banking and finance practice group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP and was previously an associate in the leveraged finance and transportation finance practice groups at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. His practice focused primarily on representing agents and lenders in commercial banking transactions.
Derek holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.S. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Al Remeza is an Associate Managing Director and Head of the CLO and Structured Credit new rating team with Moody's Investors Service. He is also the managing editor for Moody’s CLO Interest newsletter.
Prior to joining Moody’s, he was a Senior Consultant at one of Mercer’s financial advisory consulting groups. His clients were financial institutions such as major investment banks, reinsurance, and insurance companies, energy and commodities trading firms, quasi-government agencies, and numerous other Fortune 500 firms.
His other experiences include working for Credit Suisse First Boston and Alliance Capital. He earned an MA in Economics, a BS in Economics, and a BS in Engineering and did his doctoral work in finance while at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Jessica Gladstone, an Associate Managing Director, is currently responsible for managing the aerospace, defense and manufacturing team. Previously, she managed the Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals team, both within the Corporate Finance Group. Prior to becoming a manager, Jessica was a senior analyst covering companies across the healthcare sector, including hospitals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare services providers.
Before joining Moody’s in 2006, Jessica worked in the investment banking group of BMO Capital Markets performing sell-side equity research on the medical device sector. Prior to that, Jessica worked at McKinsey & Co. in the Corporate Finance Group, providing valuation analysis and management consulting services to corporate clients.
Jessica graduated with honors from Vassar College with a dual degree in Biology and French. She is also a designated CFA charter-holder
Aniket Deshpande is a Senior Credit Officer and Manager for the US Structured Credit team, which covers over 1300 US CLOs. In his current role at Moody’s, Aniket has extensively contributed to multiple thematic CLO research and newsletters, many of which have been featured by top-tier media outlets. He also speaks frequently on Moody’s behalf at industry events and serves as chair for CLO rating committees. In his previous role at Moody’s, Aniket has served as lead rating analyst for securitizations backed by multiple asset types.
Prior to joining Moody’s in 2010, Aniket held positions as an investment analyst at Dynamic Credit Partners, LLC., a fund manager investing in a wide range of CLO and structured finance securities, and as a trader for government-issued bonds at a boutique investment bank in Mumbai, India.
Aniket holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai, India. Aniket is also a CFA charter holder.
Neha Khoda is the Head of Loan Strategy at Bank of America Global Research. She is responsible for generating views and forecasts for the US and European Loan markets and their relative value with other asset classes. In her role, she covers loans across institutional, bank, private debt and middle markets. Her flagship publication is Collateral Thinking, a loan market-focused report. The team also produces thematic content and relative value reports across credit. Her work has previously been used as academic course material, and she is regularly featured in the mainstream media. In the Institutional Investor Fixed-Income Research Poll for research analysts, she was ranked #1 in 2021 under Loan Strategy. Neha has a bachelor's in computer science from the National University of Singapore, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is based in New York.
Serhan Secmen is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of US CLOs at Napier Park Global Capital (“Napier Park”). Napier Park separated from Citigroup’s alternative investment arm, Citi Capital Advisors (“CCA”), in February 2013. Prior to joining Citi Capital Advisors in August 2008, Serhan was a CLO trader at Lehman Brothers. Prior to his post at Lehman Brothers, he spent several years in Texas as a project manager focusing on special project financing. During his tenure at Napier Park, Serhan has assisted in the development of multiple proprietary analytics systems and has been influential in the various strategies and methodologies for analyzing CLOs and other structured products. Since 2006, Serhan has also been involved in various industry forums and networks, including the investor roundtables for Moody's, S&P, and Fitch Ratings. He frequently appears as a speaker at multiple industry conferences and panels. Serhan holds an MBA degree from Wharton School of Business, an MS degree from Texas A&M University, and a BS degree from Bogazici University in Turkey.