Jeffrey A. Bakalar is Managing Director, Group Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Voya Investment Management Senior Loan Group. He co-manages the group with Dan Norman, and he is Chairman of the group’s investment committee.
Jeff is currently a member of the board of directors of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association. Jeff received his MBA from DePaul University.
Membership in the LSTA offers numerous benefits and opportunities. Chief among them is the opportunity to participate in the decision making process that ultimately establishes loan market standards, develops market practices, and influences the market’s direction.
The LSTA last week joined an amicus brief in a Colorado case that is considering the question, “can a loan validly originated become invalid because it is subsequently sold or assigned to another party?”
The LSTA would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest members.
he SOFR Index (and Averages) have created considerable buzz in the loan space. The good news: Last week, the New York Fed announced it would start publishing them on March 2nd. The bad news: Due to various loan idiosyncrasies, these tools – while still beneficial! – may be less useful than for other asset classes. We explain all below.
This week, we start off talking about how “loans as securities” might morph into “loans as direct loans”. On a related(ish) note, we also discuss direct lending trends. We dig into LBO trends, looking at now (2019) and then (2007). And, finally, we ponder the evolution to SOFR (and, specifically, cash spread adjustments).
An eternal question is “How do the current crop of leveraged loans compare to the 2007 vintage?” Today we have an answer. Covenant Review recently compared recent jumbo LBOs to their pre-crisis counterparts
This week Rich Levin of Jenner & Block once again presented his quarterly review of recent court decisions of interest and importance to the lending and bankruptcy world.
Folks that know LIBOR is likely to end soon after December 2021 probably also know that SOFR, the likely replacement for USD loans, is a different kind of rate. While LIBOR theoretically includes an element of bank credit risk, SOFR is an overnight risk free rate.