Invesco Broadly Syndicated Loans

Kevin Egan (00:07):

Well, first, I think size and scale is important. It gives you allocation to new deals, which are obviously the most important thing in building a portfolio and building a diversified portfolio without having to compromise your credit standards. Because we see every deal in the market, because of our size and scale, we can turn down two-thirds of all the deals that we see and still remain fully invested.

(00:26):

Two, size and scale gives you preferential allocations. Because we are one of the largest players in the market, we get to look at deals earlier than our competitors, which means we have additional time to do due diligence, which also means that when we commit to a deal, we're helping the underwriting bank get the book built, and as a result, they reward us with preferential allocations. So again, that allows us to remain fully invested without having to compromise our credit standards.

(00:51):

Another thing I think is important is that we are on the private side of the information wall. Most of our competitors are not bank loan only and if you're a investor in a bank loan fund, you want someone who's dedicated to just your asset class. As a result, since we are bank loan only, we are on the private side of the information wall; this means that when we are underwriting a credit, we have access to material, nonpublic information from our borrowers that can stretch from management's internal projections to being able to talk to management teams between reporting period, we have access to this information, which is a competitive advantage at the underwriting and throughout the life of the credit.

(01:27):

And finally, if there's a workout situation, it means that we can always sit on the steering committee that negotiates directly with the borrower. If you own the high yield bonds and you're on the public side, you have to do one of two things. You either have to restrict your high yield bond trading, so you can sit on the steering committee and negotiate directly with the borrower on the bank loan side, or you have to not sit on the steering committee and therefore disadvantage the bank loan investors.

(01:49):

If you sit on the steering committee, there are several important advantages. One, obviously you get to effectuate the outcome. Not everybody who sits on the steering committee has the same economic interests that you do, so you're protecting the interest of your investors.

(02:01):

Two, there preferential economics frequently associated with sitting on the steering committee, backstop and other fees that are not accrued to the people who are not on the steering committee.

(02:10):

And third, because you're effectuating the outcome, we typically have a better recovery in the event of default. Loans typically recover about 80 cents on the dollar in event of default. We've done work that shows that when we've sat on the steering committee that negotiates directly with the borrower, we typically recover 86 cents on the dollar. So there's a real demonstrable advantage to being on the private side, and that comes from having a bank loan only dedicated team.