Sector developments and company hires

CLO manager ESG policies polled
A recent survey conducted by Fitch shows that 84% of the 117 CLO managers it polled have a stated ESG policy, while 60% are part of an organisation that is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). Managers reported generally sparse ESG information for leveraged loan issuers, but some responses highlighted steps that individual CLO platforms and industries are taking to improve the information gap. Many CLO managers believe that their credit analysts are in the best position to assess ESG impact within their coverage, with larger institutional firms with substantial resources being more likely to have specialised teams to facilitate consistency of their ESG approach throughout the various business units.

Global
Mayer Brown has elected structured finance practitioner Jon Van Gorp as chair, effective 1 June. He will take over from Paul Theiss, who has served in this role since 2012.

Van Gorp is a partner in Mayer Brown’s New York and Chicago offices and has held several leadership positions at the firm, including a seat on its management committee since 2017. He previously co-led the firm’s banking and finance, capital markets and structured finance practices.

Mayer Brown has also elected partners Sally Davies (managing partner in the firm’s London office), Raj De (managing partner in the Washington, DC office) and Jason Elder (registered foreign consultant, New York) as new members of its eight-person management committee.

Italian moratorium extension ‘credit positive’
The Italian government last week enacted a new decree that extends until December 2021 a debt-payment moratorium to include the self-employed, artisans and professionals whose income losses exceeded 33% in 2020 versus 2019. Additionally, the new decree extends an existing debt moratorium on SMEs to December 2021 from June, limiting the moratorium to the principal component only.

Moody’s notes in its latest Credit Outlook publication that the extension is credit positive for Italian RMBS, ABS and SME transactions because it will support debtors for a longer period, allowing more time for financial conditions to improve for Italian consumers and SMEs affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Bank of Italy, the self-employed and artisans represented around 40% of all requests for mortgage relief up to August 2020. A significant portion of Italy's debt payment moratorium granted in March 2020 is still outstanding, with €121bn of loans to Italian SMEs still in debt moratorium as of 7 May, according to the Taskforce of the Ministry of Economy.

Italian leasing association Assilea reported that, as of February 2021, 63% of the initially granted moratoriums had not yet resumed payments. Loans and leases in debt moratorium in ABS SME transactions Moody’s rates account for around 45% of total portfolios, although in some portfolios the percentage decreased substantially in 1Q21.

Meanwhile, the new measures are improving access to credit for first-time buyers under 36 years old, who will be exempt from paying transfer, mortgage and financing taxes subject to certain conditions. The decree also introduces a government guarantee of 80% for mortgages with an LTV higher than 80%, which will be available also to temporary workers. This is positive for house prices and improves affordability for a segment of the Italian population more affected by coronavirus-related job losses, Moody’s notes.

North America
T. Michael Johnson has been appointed head of investor relations for Carlyle Global Credit, based in New York. He was previously partner, head of business development at Pretium, and has also worked at Paulson & Co and Citi Alternative Investments.

Freddie Mac has announced a couple of senior appointments. Michael DeVito has been named ceo, effective 1 June. At that time, interim ceo Mark Grier will resume his duties as a full-time member of Freddie Mac’s board.

DeVito brings more than 30 years of experience in the mortgage and financial services industry to Freddie Mac. He spent over 23 years at Wells Fargo, rising to the level of evp, head of home lending, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s mortgage and home equity business. He retired from Wells Fargo in 2020.

Additionally, Freddie Mac has appointed Jason Griest vp of multifamily securitisation, responsible for leading the structuring team that includes managing the multifamily loan pipeline and multifamily credit risk transfer executions. Griest has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry with and has been with Freddie Mac Multifamily since 2013. Previously, he held capital markets and securitisation roles with Fannie Mae, Bank of America and JPMorgan.

Risa Itoshima has joined HPS Investment Partners as vp. She was previously vp - CLO structuring at Morgan Stanley in New York, having joined the firm in June 2014.

Alternative reinsurance platform Vesttoo has appointed Robert Schumaker vp of capital markets, based in New York. Schumaker will lead Vesttoo's insurance-linked programme, which offers asset managers and pension schemes the opportunity to earn long-term, sustainable alpha by pledging securities to support short- and mid-term life and P&C alternative risk transfer transactions. He was previously md and head of business development, alternative financing solutions at State Street Bank and has also worked at Credit Suisse in the prime brokerage sales and trading team.