Sector developments and company hires

ABS outfit launched

US Bancorp has launched a new ABS lending business, providing non-recourse commitments secured by consumer and commercial receivables. Bo Weatherly - who joined the firm in 2016 - will serve as md for the new business, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has brought together a team of established industry experts, each with an average of 20 years of experience in the securitisation markets.

Europe

Cairn Capital has appointed Michael Htun as a portfolio manager, responsible for CLO tranche investments. He was previously a vp at NatWest Markets, where he worked in leveraged credit sales and CLO structuring. Prior to this, he ran the secondary European CLO trading business at RBC and has also worked at Halcyon Asset Management, Bank of America and Fitch.

ILS unit launched

PIMCO has launched its property and casualty insurance-linked securities business, following the appointment of Rick Pagnani, evp, to lead it (SCI 11 January). The firm says it will work in partnership with its parent, Allianz, to source global catastrophe risk in the form of collateralised reinsurance and other structured investments, while maintaining independent underwriting and portfolio construction procedures. Together with Allianz Re, Allianz Group’s corporate insurance carrier Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty will support the PIMCO ILS business through access to its international underwriting network and the deal structuring capabilities of its capital solutions team. Pagnani, who has more than 30 years of experience in the ILS market, will lead a group of dedicated professionals and incorporate robust underwriting and risk management tools for the business. He will report to Nic Johnson, md and portfolio manager. 

Issuer name changes

The Symphony CLO III and Symphony CLO XI transactions have changed their names to California Street CLO III and California Street CLO XI.

RMBS upgrade

Moody’s has upgraded two tranches of Together’s debut RMBS, Together Asset Backed Securitisation 1 and affirmed its ratings on the rest – the rating agency has upgraded the class B notes from Aa2 to Aa1 and the class C notes from A2 to A1. This is a result of increased credit enhancement, following the addition of a sequential and non-amortising additional reserve fund by Together in November last year.