Leveraged Finance

AXA Structured Finance Leveraged Finance team manages portfolios of sub-investment grade loans (senior and mezzanine) within Collateralized Loan Obligations, funds of High yield loans and dedicated mandates.

Asset Class

High yield loans are bank loans granted to companies, usually for supporting strategic acquisitions and Leveraged Buyout (LBO) transactions. Resulting in a higher leverage for these companies, these financial instruments are part of the sub-investment grade universe and their value is mostly dependent on the ability of the contracting company to generate cash flows and refinance their debt. High yield loans stand as the most senior assets in the capital structure and usually feature various covenants giving loan holders the option to control a defaulting company, leading to a relatively higher recovery rate. Combined with the fact that these instruments enable exposure to private companies, they prove to be a powerful portfolio diversification tool.

Team

The Leveraged Finance team includes portfolio management, dedicated research, trading, monitoring and structuring professionals. As an early entrant on the European leveraged finance market, the team has developed a critical mass in terms of assets under management and excellent sourcing capacities, as well as best in class risk management processes. The team's investment style is based on fundamental credit research as well as relative value and active trading, and seeks to control the downside risk by weighing portfolios in the more attractive areas of the leveraged loan market. Overall, the team seeks repeated performances through economic cycles.

Products

The Leveraged Finance team's products are designed and managed to deliver consistent returns across credit cycles and can be packaged according to investor's needs. The team currently manages assets within Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), funds (closed or open-ended) and mandates. Depending on their objective, investors can select amongst products which are leveraged or not, as well as mark-to-market or cash flow driven products. Investors wishing to allocate significant amounts to High yield loans or get further information on our existing open ended fund ELF can consult with the Leveraged Finance team

Team Leader

Jean-Philippe Levilain

Jeanphilippe.levilain@axa-im.com
+ 33 1 44 4567 42