KopenTech in the Press

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, June 1 – June 5, 2026

Last week's BWIC market was shaped by two bookends. Thursday posted $757mm — more than double the typical daily clip and nearly as much as the entire prior week's listed volume — dragging overall supply to $1.75bn (+55% WoW) while demand fell well short: conversion collapsed to 42% from 71% and the DNT rate climbed to 54% from 36%. At the other end, Friday posted $162mm and cleared nothing, with market participants already in transit to ABS Global in Barcelona ahead of the Tuesday open. Strip out both distortions and the core three days had reasonable conviction — Tuesday ran at a strong 82%.

The most striking feature was the divergence between the senior stack and mezz/sub-IG. AAA was the epicenter of the Thursday supply wave: 64% DNT on $639mm posted, with AA faring worse at 84% DNT — the weakest clearance of the week. Yet what did clear was tighter, AAA printing 120 DM (-10 bps WoW) and AA 154 DM (-15 bps), suggesting buyers had conviction on quality at the right price but were in no rush to chase. BBB and BB told the opposite story. BBB cleared at 70% conversion and tightened 103 bps to 303 DM; BB followed at 58% conversion, compressing 146 bps to 588 DM. B-rated paper cleared efficiently at 88%. Equity contributed $300mm traded at 51% conversion, 79 bps tighter at 1,212 DM on average.

US BSL CLO DMs WoW, bps

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, May 25 – May 29, 2026

Secondary activity was compressed into four sessions following the Memorial Day holiday, yet the week delivered a tone that was meaningfully more constructive than its predecessor — conviction firmed, the bid broadened, and conversion rates ran well above recent levels. Against total posted volume of $1,126.7mm, $797.3mm cleared across 84 BWIC lists at a 70.8% conversion rate — flat in absolute traded dollars versus the prior five-day week, implying a materially stronger per-session pace. Tuesday and Wednesday anchored the week, accounting for over 94% of flow, while Monday's post-holiday re-open was tentative and Thursday tailed off predictably as the week compressed to a close. Dealer positioning reinforced the shift: the week of May 25 saw net buying of +$265.6mm, a sharp reversal from the -$362.8mm of net selling recorded the prior week.

The capital stack told a story of deliberate rotation. AAA held its dominant share at 40.0% of traded volume ($318.7mm, effectively unchanged WoW in dollar terms), while IG mezzanine re-engaged sharply — AA surged from 2.9% to 13.6% of flow ($108.2mm) and single-A printed $56.5mm against zero the prior week, the strongest combined IG-mezz participation in recent weeks. BBB spreads tightened 24.5bps to 408bps DM as that part of the stack absorbed well. The notable outlier was BB, where average clearing DM widened 125bps to 753bps despite volume growing modestly — pointing to tiering and selectivity below the IG threshold rather than a broad risk-on move. Equity share contracted sharply from 42.8% to 19.9%, and the 849bps average DM compression in that bucket reflects a compositional shift toward cleaner paper rather than outright spread tightening. Into June, the tone is cautiously firmer at the top of the stack, with junior mezz and sub-IG remaining the focal point for price discovery.

US BSL CLO DMs WoW, bps

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, May 18 – May 22, 2026

Secondary activity compressed into four sessions ahead of the long weekend, with Friday effectively shuttered — just $8.8mm posted and nothing clearing. Within those four days, conviction improved sharply versus the prior week. Total traded volume climbed to $797mm on $1.08bn posted, the overall conversion rate surging from 45% to 74% while the line-count DNT rate fell from 52% to 35%. Monday's session was tight but efficient at 89% conversion on modest volume; Tuesday carried the week with $344mm traded before flow tapered steadily through Thursday's 70% conversion into the holiday close.

AAA led by volume at $322mm, tightening 16 bps to 107 DM on average, though a 45% line-count DNT pointed to continued manager and vintage selectivity. AA cleared cleanly — all $23mm placed at 0% DNT, marginally wider at 157 DM on thin supply. IG mezzanine carried the week's cautionary signal: A-rated paper was absent entirely, and BBB struggled with a 47% DNT rate and clearing levels 66 bps wider at 432 DM — the largest spread move in the stack. BBs outperformed, tightening roughly 30 bps to a 633 DM average with top-tier names clearing firmly in the mid-400s. Equity drove $341mm of flow at 79% conversion, the strongest clearing rate among rated categories.

US BSL CLO DMs WoW, bps

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, May 18 – May 22, 2026

Secondary activity compressed into four sessions ahead of the long weekend, with Friday effectively shuttered — just $8.8mm posted and nothing clearing. Within those four days, conviction improved sharply versus the prior week. Total traded volume climbed to $797mm on $1.08bn posted, the overall conversion rate surging from 45% to 74% while the line-count DNT rate fell from 52% to 35%. Monday's session was tight but efficient at 89% conversion on modest volume; Tuesday carried the week with $344mm traded before flow tapered steadily through Thursday's 70% conversion into the holiday close.

AAA led by volume at $322mm, tightening 16 bps to 107 DM on average, though a 45% line-count DNT pointed to continued manager and vintage selectivity. AA cleared cleanly — all $23mm placed at 0% DNT, marginally wider at 157 DM on thin supply. IG mezzanine carried the week's cautionary signal: A-rated paper was absent entirely, and BBB struggled with a 47% DNT rate and clearing levels 66 bps wider at 432 DM — the largest spread move in the stack. BBs outperformed, tightening roughly 30 bps to a 633 DM average with top-tier names clearing firmly in the mid-400s. NR/equity drove $341mm of flow at 79% conversion, the strongest clearing rate among rated categories.

US BSL CLO DMs WoW, bps

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, May 11 – May 15, 2026

Secondary activity turned in a notably softer week, with conviction concentrated in a narrow mid-week window and appetite fading sharply as the week closed out. Total posted volume of $1,566.5mm generated just $701.0mm of trades — a 44.7% conversion rate against 54.7% the prior week — across 122 BWIC lists. Wednesday anchored the week at $678.2mm posted and $320.3mm traded, while Friday registered zero traded against $48.2mm posted, suggesting pre-weekend risk aversion had set in fully. Dealer flow data reinforces the directional read: net supply has outpaced demand for three consecutive weeks, though the pace of net selling moderated meaningfully into the week of May 4.

The capital stack told a bifurcated story. Senior paper tightened cleanly — AAA spreads firmed 9.5bps to 123bps DM, AA compressed 23.5bps to 148bps, and A rallied 6.7bps — confirming the bid for high-quality paper remained constructive. The anomaly sits squarely at BBB: average DM widened a sharp 72bps to 362.8bps despite traded volume doubling WoW to $106.1mm (15.1% of the traded stack vs. 4.6% prior). BB tightened 24.4bps to 652bps and grew to 21.3% of flow as the equity bid effectively collapsed — the volume fell from $543mm to $162mm.

US BSL CLO DMs WoW, bps

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, Apr 27 – May 1, 2026

$1.22bn posted over the week, with $754mm trading at a 62.0% overall conversion rate — up from $656mm traded the prior week. Activity was effectively compressed into three full sessions, with Monday and Tuesday seeing light participation as the LSTA CLO Conference drew desks away — combined, the two days posted just $290mm against the week's $1.22bn total. Wednesday marked the return to full engagement, with $282mm trading on $458mm posted (61.7%), and Thursday's $418mm posting — the heaviest session — met a softer bid at just 44.6% conversion, pointing to supply outrunning demand into the back half of the week. AAA paper dominated at roughly 57% of traded flow.

AAA cleared at an average 124dm, roughly 4bps tighter week-on-week, with a DNT rate of just 2.9%. AA was the tightest hit rate in the stack at 95.8% with zero DNTs, clearing at 168dm. Single-A absorbed at 81.7% conversion around 191dm. BBB saw the sharpest dislocation, with conversion collapsing from 56.9% the prior week to 19.4% and DNT spiking to 16.7% — the highest in the stack — as bid-ask on cuspy profiles widened. BBs were the week's compression trade: 72.0% conversion at an average 636dm, with clearing prices spanning over six points of dispersion as tiering across vintage and quality remained pronounced. Equity saw its most active session in months late in the week, with long-duration, clean profiles drawing strong execution. Tone into the weekend was constructive; the bid was present and broadening.

KopenTech CLO Weekly: BWIC Activity & Market Trends, Apr 13–17, 2026

Weekly Market Tone & BWIC Color

$1.14bn posted across 38 lists, with $534.6mm trading at a 46.8% conversion rate - marginally softer than 50.0% the prior week. Flow was concentrated mid-week, with Wednesday alone clearing 77.8% of what was put up. Thursday's $473.6mm posting - the heaviest session of the week - met a wall of selectivity at just 35.6% conversion, pointing to supply outrunning demand as the week closed out. Senior paper dominated listings at 55.9% of posted flow, with BB comprising a further 19%.

Traded US CLO BWIC Volumes

IG cleared without stress. AAA averaged 99.87 (flat WoW), AA converted at 92% - the tightest hit rate in the stack - and BBB absorbed at 98.39 despite a 13% DNT rate. The real story was in BB, where clearing prices spanned 88.33 to 99.51 - over 11 points of dispersion around a 94.95 mean. That range is a tiering story, not a direction call: recent-vintage, higher-MVOC paper cleared into the high-90s while weaker structures and longer-WAL names were cut hard. BB DNT at 21% confirmed the selectivity. B and NR went untraded. Tone into the weekend was defensive; the bid was present but narrow.

Traded US CLO BWIC Volumes by Rating

What January Trading Reveals About CLO Secondary Liquidity

January CLO secondary markets showed a stabilising tone rather than acceleration. TRACE trading volumes held near $18.8bn, with multiple sessions above $1bn confirming consistent liquidity. US BSL AAA spreads tightened toward ~121bps, approaching cycle tights, while BB spreads retraced part of the year-end widening. Investor demand also rotated modestly down the capital stack, with high-yield tranches taking a larger share of activity as confidence improved. Read Kopentech's full article on Creditflux.