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Property Developers: Turn Right and Follow the Money

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Published: 14 October 2024

The real estate sector is currently facing headwinds. Some asset classes, such as offices, are impacted much more than others, but the impact is widespread.  Despite this, real estate has not and will not lose its relevance in the foreseeable future. What is likely, however, is that the form or utilisation of the ‘space’ will change over time. Advancements in technology do not diminish the need for individuals to sleep, meet and interact. The intent is to optimize and reprioritize space in order to make life easier for us.

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Unlocking Stability and Yield: A Guide to EUR Investment Grade (IG) CLOs in Diversified Portfolios

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Published: 29 January 2024

EUR Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) have emerged as a resilient asset class since their inception. This article delves into the historical performance, enhanced structural features, and comparative advantages of EUR IG CLOs, advocating for their essential role in providing diversification to a fixed-income portfolio.

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Is Private Debt Replacing Bank Lending? Advantages, Challenges, and the Future

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Published: 09 January 2024

Our sector likes to stress the difference in terms of quality of loans, process, and many other factors. Just looking at the sheer growth of the private debt sector, the disintermediation becomes obvious. But how different is private credit really from traditional lending? How discerning has our sector been in differentiating the good from the bad?

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Specialist Private Debt: Bridging the Gap in Today's Lending Landscape

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Published: 20 December 2023

Specialist private debt provides a significantly differentiated, and perhaps more flexible, offering than bank debt.  Whilst banks remain a sound option to provide credit, they have shifted their lending practices in a number of ways including a focus on a shrinking universe of relationship-based borrowers as well as a move to larger borrowers with debt which can be placed into the syndicated debt markets.

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Troubles from Bricks and Mortar (Again)?

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Published: 21 August 2023

 In this article Shikha Gupta, PM of Astra Asset Management, shares her perspective on the risks of a severe real estate market correction, the outlook for the wider economy and the unique window of opportunity for long-term investors. In the near term, valuations are expected to sink lower, and it is evident in the market that this process has already begun. 

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Finding Relative Value in Credit Markets

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Published: 27 June 2023

The size and diversity of corporate credit markets mean that there is no shortage of options for investors to express their ideas. In particular, the European bond market emerged from a quieter 2022 with the strongest first quarter since 2009, raising EUR 260bn of corporate debt; high yield issuance was up by more than 20% from Q1 2022.

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MBS Market Will Provide Discounted Opportunities in 2023 as Delinquency Rates Rise

MBS Market Will Provide Discounted Opportunities in 2023 as Delinquency Rates Rise

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Published: 22 December 2022

Until now, UK house prices had benefited from nearly three decades of decline in the risk free real interest rate. A 2019 working paper from the Bank of England predicted that “a 1% increase in real interest rates that was persistent could move real house prices by just under 20% across many years”.

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Don’t worry UK, you’re not alone

Don’t worry UK, you’re not alone

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Published: 21 November 2022

Dr. Christian Adler, Co-founder and Director, Astra Asset Management

The now infamous mini-budget announced by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng on 23rd September 2022 sent shockwaves in financial markets, as investors balked at the complete lack of funding details to support tax cuts.

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Amundi warns on hidden leverage in the financial system

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Published: 02 November 2022

Albertus Rigter, Partner , Astra Asset Management

Investment Chief, Vincent Mortier brings up a really interesting point on hidden leverage in the financial system today. The recent volatility in Gilts and the Liability Driven Investments (LDI) caused margin calls for pension funds when gilts started falling in value. Away from the crisis at hand, the article talks about leverage in the private markets.

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Applying a sniper’s view to seek out the most attractive credit opportunities

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Published: 24 October 2022

Anish Mathur, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Astra Asset Management

Since the global financial crisis upended the markets in 2007/8, there has been a singular commitment by central banks and governments, at least in the West, to prop up the economy by any means possible.

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Winning with a chance of Winning Bigger, asymmetry versus the illusion of stable returns

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Published: 03 June 2022

With thanks to our friend Keith Pangretitsch at Relevance Wealth

The most recent market fluctuations have returned attention to tail risk managers. Mark Spitznagel, a Nassim Taleb prodigy, posted a 4,144% return in March. Nassim Taleb is the famous author of several books including Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness and Skin in the Game.

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How to make sense of data?

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Published: 11 May 2022

We thought it would be interesting to issue our first blog with a question we received from an allocator. The question concerned how we compare the current crisis to the one in 2000 and 2008, and what data sources we use to construct our view on the cycle.

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Recent posts

  • Property Developers: Turn Right and Follow the Money
  • Unlocking Stability and Yield: A Guide to EUR Investment Grade (IG) CLOs in Diversified Portfolios
  • Is Private Debt Replacing Bank Lending? Advantages, Challenges, and the Future
  • Specialist Private Debt: Bridging the Gap in Today's Lending Landscape
  • Troubles from Bricks and Mortar (Again)?
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