CLO Credit Bubble Narrative

The press and a number of academics have been making hay recently regarding the supposed credit bubble forming in leveraged loans and CLOs. Personally, I don't buy it. Having been on the issuer side of the leveraged lending equation, my view is that the underwriting standards are pretty high, even if terms have gotten more borrower friendly over the past several years.

The comparisons to private label MBS CDOs seem kind of ridiculous to me for a few reasons. The collateral quality is much more transparent given the limited number of loans in each vehicle and the fact that the originators are more sophisticated and responsible than some crappy mortgage broker. Moreover, the managers are generally AMs who have to care about investment performance rather than some IB who just wants to move product. The new risk retention rules should create skin in the game and keep people honest. The systemic risks should also be less severe due to the lack of inherent liquidity mismatch.

I'm no expert on this subject, so would be interested to hear from the credit folks whether or not you agree with my thoughts above.

1 Comments
 

Voluptatem voluptas labore corrupti voluptatibus consequuntur culpa. Dolor odio explicabo et accusamus.

Maiores dolorum error qui. Perferendis nesciunt necessitatibus qui voluptatum deleniti voluptatem.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (66) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”