Corporate credit provides investors with a wide variety of options to construct a strategic allocation with an attractive risk-return profile. Understanding the basics of this large, compelling universe is a key first step to sound investing in this asset class.
What is corporate credit?
Corporate credit is the amount of money extended to a company by a lender/investor so it can obtain what it currently needs (e.g., money to run or expand its business, money to repay maturing debt) and pay it back later. To incent lenders, credit comes with a promise by a company to compensate a lender with interest over and above the borrowed principal in the future.
What are the different types of corporate credit?
The various types available are: investment grade bonds, high yield bonds, bank loans and structured products.
- Investment grade bonds are debt instruments generally carrying low to medium risk of default as determined by ratings agencies like Standard & Poors and Moody’s. To compensate lenders for taking on moderate risk they offer relatively moderate yields.
- High yield bonds are issued by companies with a higher risk of default as rated by the same agencies and offer higher yields to compensate lenders for taking on more risk.
- Bank loans are generally those made by banks to businesses, and may be secured or unsecured, the former requiring the borrower to provide collateral security in the form of assets (e.g., inventory, intellectual property) to cover against possible default on the loan.
- Structured products such as collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), derivatives and credit default swaps offer investors further opportunities for accessing the asset class.
A third asset class
Corporate credit may be considered a third asset class alongside equities and fixed income (e.g., treasuries, municipal bonds), one with its own unique set of attributes. For example, equities tend to outperform in periods of strong economic growth, while fixed income typically performs best when growth is weaker. Corporate credit, however, is less tied to economic growth and more affected by borrower-specific risk. Historically, credit exhibits only moderate correlation with equities and minimal or negative correlations with government bonds, and thus can provide significant diversification benefits in a portfolio of equities and fixed income.
Credit historically provides low or uncorrelated returns to other asset classes
Source: BBg Barclays, Bloomberg and J.P. Morgan, as of 3/29/19. Data backwards looking to January 2006. FI - Long Gov/Credit: Barclays Long Gov/Credit, FI – Agg: Barclays Aggregate, Equity: MSCI ACWI, PE: Thomson Reuters Private Equity Buyout Index, HF: HFRX Global HF, RE: DJ US RE, Cash: Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill.Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results.
The corporate credit market has grown exponentially in size, complexity, number of issues and geographical reach in recent years – in part due to global monetary policy driving investors to search for higher yields – offering a wide array of investable opportunities. With a broader, more global opportunity set to draw upon, investors can now look beyond a tactical allocation to this asset class and take a more strategic, long-term approach.
Global credit markets have grown ~3x and are more diversified and investible
As of 31/12/18. Sources: Barclays Capital, Morningstar. Global IG is represented by the Bloomberg Barclays Global Corporate Index. Global HY is represented by the Bloomberg Barclays Global High Yield Index Morgan. Global Loans is the sum of the S&P/LSTA Leverage Loans Index and the S&P European All Loans Index. Emerging Markets IG and HY are represented by the JP CEMBI Index.
- Public debt. High yield loans and bank loans, for example, which are traded at relatively high volumes by many different participants in the public market, are more liquid than some other corporate credit assets.
- Private debt. Private credit, which tends to be more customized to its issuer’s needs, is typically traded at lower volumes within a more restricted universe of investors, if at all. In this sense, it is less liquid. While the public market is very large, the private market, which typically offers higher yields than the public market – to compensate for the complexity and illiquidity of its offerings – is smaller but growing as company financing needs are becoming too complex for public markets and investors increasingly search for higher yields.
Why invest in corporate credit?
There are several compelling reasons both institutional and retail investors may want to consider accessing corporate credit and making it a core holding in a diversified investment portfolio.
- Higher yields. In the current low-yield environment, investors looking for yield may find corporate credit attractive as it has historically tended to outperform higher quality fixed income sectors.
Credit investments still offer the most yield
As of 12/31/18. US HY = BBG Barc US Corp High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index. EUR HY= BBG Barc Pan European High Yield 3% Issuer Constrained Index. ABS = BBG Barc ABS Index. US IG = BBg Barclays US Credit Corp. EUR IG = BBG Barc Pan-Euro Agg Corporate Index. US Lev Loans Loans= S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan. EMD = JP Morgan CEMBI Broad Diversified Index. US TSY = BBG Barc Treasury Index. CMBS = BBG Barc CMBS Investment Grade 7+ Yr Index Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. Indexes are unmanaged. It is not possible to invest directly in an index .
- Less sensitivity to interest rates. As monetary stimulus wanes, interest rates are poised to rise. In this environment corporate credit may be an attractive opportunity as it has tended to show less sensitivity to interest rates than investment grade bonds and government bonds.
- Protection against defaults. Corporate credit is generally senior in the capital structure. This means, in the event a company defaults on its loan, corporate credit investors – as opposed to equity investors – are granted a priority interest in repayment.
Including credit in a balanced global stock and core bond portfolio potentially enhances returns and lowers volatility
Source: BBg Barclays, Bloomberg and J.P. Morgan, as of 12/31/18. Data backwards looking to January 2007. MSCI Global = MSCI ACWI - All Country World Index. Global Agg = Bloomberg Barclays Global-Aggregate Total Return Index USD hedged. Credit = Market cap weighted portfolio excluding US Investment Grade is comprised of BBg Barclays US HY 2% Issuer Cap, BBg Barclays Pan-European High Yield USD hedged, S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan, BBg Barclays US Corp IG, BBg Barclays Pan-Euro Corporate USD hedged, JP Morgan EMBI Global, S&P/LSTA European Leveraged Loan Index. And JPMorgan Asian Credit Index (JACI). Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results.
Accessing corporate credit with BlackRock
Global corporate credit is made up of a large, varied and complex universe of assets. Perhaps even more than equities and traditional fixed income, it requires expertise to fully harness the potential of this asset class across strategies and throughout the economic cycle. An advantageous way of doing so may be through The BlackRock Global Credit Platform, which has the breadth, depth and scale to fully exploit the range of corporate credit opportunities available to investors.
There are many questions that can be answered by working with an experienced credit investment advisor such as BlackRock. Who should I lend to? Who should I not lend to? Do I want domestic exposure only or do I want to invest globally? How important is short-term liquidity? Do I want to invest in public or private credit? Do I use commingled funds (e.g., mutual funds, hedge funds, private limited partnership) or a separate account? What loan terms would provide additional protection to lenders, and how do I successfully negotiate those terms with companies?
Accordingly, it behooves potential investors in corporate credit to find a trusted partner with the tools and discipline to assess and structure offerings at all points in the economic cycle. This assessment needs to be performed with an eye not only to acquiring discounted or fairly valued assets across the broadest possible universe, but by employing a proven set of strategies for creating a risk-return profile suited to an investor’s needs.
The BlackRock Global Credit Platform combines global insight with local expertise, with 10 global offices and over 130 investment professionals including over 75 research analysts dedicated to researching global corporate credit at the strategy, industry and company level. This allows the platform to formulate macro themes as well as maintain a boots-on-the-ground ability to interview company managers to find the best new opportunities. With its globally integrated corporate credit team, The BlackRock Global Credit Platform manages to remain nimble and tactical across market opportunities throughout the economic cycle with a dual focus on generating sustainable results and providing downside risk mitigation. An advisor like BlackRock, with scale, robust top-down/bottom-up research capabilities and global reach can provide investors with the best opportunities for finding value at the strategy, sector, industry and company level.
