Take Notes
Episodes
European Structured Finance Mid-Year Update: Issuance Is Strong, But Performance Concerns Remain
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While European Structured Finance issuance has been strong in the first half of the year, some investors believe that deteriorating macro fundamentals...
Airline Loyalty ABS Have Lift Off
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Loyalty programs have turned out to be highly profitable for airlines, as for some, they generate more cash flow than flight operations. Indeed, we be...
How ETFs Are Enabling The Transformation Of Capital Markets
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Exchange traded funds (ETFs)--in particular, CLO ETFs--are providing a vehicle for retail investors to adapt to new financial innovations in capital m...
Consumers Facing Inflation And Affordability Challenges Despite Low Unemployment
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recent data regarding consumer credit--especially auto ABS collateral data--are showing signs of deteriorating performance. Moreover, we've seen some ...
The Impact Of The LA Wildfires On California's Property Insurance, Housing Finance, And State Creditworthiness
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss the cross-sector impact of the Los Angeles wildfires on California's property insurance, housing finance, and state creditworthiness. As th...
The Rise Of U.S. CLO ETFs
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since CLO ETFs launched in late 2020, the investing landscape has changed, as retail investors can now access securities previously available only to ...
Why TGIF Funding LLC's Series 2017-1 Class A-2 Was Downgraded
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by esoteric ABS credit analyst Christine Dalton to do a deep dive on the Nov. 4, 2024, downgrade of TGIF Funding LLC's series 2017-1 clas...
U.S. BSL CLO Markets Roars Back To Life In 2024, With Cautious Optimism For Leveraged Finance
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After two years of muted issuance, the U.S. BSL #CLO market has roared back to life, with about $165 billion in issuance to date. We're joined by CLO ...
Update On The Covered Bond Markets For Norway, Finland, And Netherlands
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by analyst Casper Andersen to provide updates on the Norwegian, Finnish, and Dutch covered bonds markets, and Icelandic jurisdictional su...
Introducing Our "ABS Frontiers" Article Series
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For our first episode in 2024, our host, Tom Schopflocher, is joined by Cian Chandler, S&P Global Ratings' Global Structured Finance Chief Analytical ...
France And Germany Lead The Covered Bond Issuance Rebound
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022, European covered bond issuance reached levels unseen since 2011, with the French and German markets leading the way. We're joined by analysts...
Back In The Office? Uneven Global Sector Recovery
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by analyst Ana Lai and co-host Jim Manzi to discuss the global office sector's uneven recovery post-pandemic. We dive into the vacancy ra...
A Comparative Overview Of U.S. And European BSL CLOs
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Analysts Daniel Hu, Rebecca Mun, and Abhijit Pawar join us to discuss U.S. and European BSL CLOs. First, we give a recap of a CLO panel at a recent S&...
The First 'AAA (sf)' Rating Assigned To Chinese Consumer Finance ABS
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On July 28, 2023, S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'AAA (sf)' rating to the class A notes of Anyihua 2023 Phase III Personal Consumption Loan Asset Bac...
Covered Bonds Could Ease The Pain In European Commercial Real Estate
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by credit analysts Casper Andersen to discuss how covered bonds could ease the pain in European commercial real estate (CRE), which has b...
Covered Bonds Take On Rising Pressures In Sweden, Norway, and Finland
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by credit analysts Andrew South and Casper Andersen to discuss covered bonds in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Sweden has been experiencing...
Inside Global ABCP: Issuance Trends, Impact Of Recent Banking Events, And Alternative Financing Arrangements
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by credit analysts Dev Vithani, Joshua Saunders, and Maxime Pontois to discuss some of the alternative financing arrangements that are on...
A Look At Rising U.S. BSL CLO 'CCC' Basket Scenarios And Their Effects On Junior O/C Test Cushions
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by CLO Sector Lead Stephen Anderberg and credit analyst Daniel Hu to discuss how rising U.S. broadly syndicated loan (BSL) CLO 'CCC' bask...
European CMBS In A Rising Rate Environment
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Mathias Herzog to discuss how the risk for the commercial real estate (CRE) loans we monitor in European CMBS has shifted to refinanci...
China Structured Finance 2023 Outlook
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our host, Tom Schopflocher, is joined by Hong Kong-based lead analyst Andrea Lin to discuss our 2023 securitization outlook for China. We begin by rec...
Navigating Through A Softening U.S. Residential Mortgage And Housing Market In 2023
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our host, Tom Schopflocher, is joined by U.S. RMBS Sector Lead Jeremy Schneider discuss our 2023 U.S. residential mortgage and housing outlook. With t...
Global Structured Finance 2023 Outlook
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our hosts Tom Schopflocher and James Manzi get together to discuss our 2023 global structured finance outlook. Global structured finance issuance fell...
Insights Into The Danish And German Covered Bond Markets
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Expanding on our covered bond market coverage, Casper Andersen joins us to provide some insights into the Danish and German markets, which are the lar...
Packaging Fast Food For A Recession: Whole Business Securitization Risks In 2023
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Structured Finance analyst Christine Dalton, who gives her insights into the overall U.S. whole business securitization (WBS) sector, ...
The Par Wars Saga Continues As U.S. CLO Document Provisions Evolve
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by our CLO team members Stephen Anderberg, Catherine Rautenkranz, William Sweatt, and Jeffrey Burton to discuss the evolving nature of U....
A Request For Comment On Proposed Criteria For Global Aircraft ABS
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by nontraditional ABS Analysts Deborah Newman and Rajesh Subramanian, as well Kapil Jain from Structured Finance Methodologies, who discu...
The Health of U.S. Consumers
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode of Take Notes, hosts Tom Schopflocher and Jim Manzi discuss their recently published chartbook: U.S. Structured Finance Snapsho...
The Harmonization Of EU Covered Bonds
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Following the implementation of the EU Covered Bond Directive, analysts Casper Andersen and Ana Galdo join us this week to discuss the journey Europea...
European CMBS Performance In The Face Of Rising Real Estate Values
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the European commercial real estate market facing asset price inflation risks, analyst Mathias Herzog joins us this week to discuss the region's ...
How The Australian RMBS Sector's Resilience To Monetary Tightening Will Be Tested
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Credit analyst Erin Kitson joins us this week to discuss the Australian RMBS sector's likely resilience to rising interest rates in the country due to...
Private Equity Collateral Fund Obligations In 2022
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Chris Plumb and Jie Liang to discuss Private Equity CFOs, including the recent Astrea 7 transaction. Disruptions from the COVID-19 pan...
A History Of U.S. CLO Defaults
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our host, Jim Manzi, is joined by U.S. CLO sector lead Stephen Anderberg, Director Daniel Hu, and research analyst Evan Gunter to do a deep dive into ...
The Risks Of "Buy Now, Pay Later" Assets And Potential Securitizations
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Doug Paterson to discuss buy now, pay later (BNPL) lending, a form of consumer credit where goods and services are paid for in install...
The Past Year In Auto ABS And What Could Be In Store For 2022
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher and S&P Global Ratings analyst Amy Martin discuss the U.S. auto loan ABS market, which roared back to life in 2021 with issuance...
Insights Into The Norwegian And Finnish Covered Bond Markets
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Expanding on our covered bond market coverage, Casper Andersen joins us to provide some insights into the growing Norwegian And Finnish markets, which...
2022 Latin America Structured Finance Outlook
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our Latin American team joins us this week to discuss the 2022 outlook for the Latin American Structured Finance market. We expect flat issuance relat...
Sustainable Covered Bonds Recap and Outlook
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by credit analysts Antonio Farina and Marta Escutia to discuss sustainable covered bond market, which has been expanding over the last co...
High-Flying U.S. Housing Price Appreciation Expected To Make A Soft Landing
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher discusses the economic factors supporting the U.S. housing market and what could happen to the record high pace of home price ap...
Electric Vehicles Charging Ahead In European ABS Transactions
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Credit analyst Doug Paterson joins us this week to discuss the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) in European auto ABS transactions as the transition to ...
The Stability Of U.S. Timeshare ABS Performance During The Pandemic
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Director Jay Srivats joins our host Tom Schopflocher this week to give an update on the U.S. timeshare securitization sector. We discuss the consolida...
An Overview Of The 2021 German, Swedish, And Danish Covered Bond Markets
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sector Lead Casper Andersen and analyst Natalie Swiderek join us this week to give an overview of the 2021 German, Swedish, and Danish covered bond ma...
Possible LIBOR Replacement Scenarios And Their Effect On U.K. RMBS Ratings
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Credit analyst Irina Penkina joins us to discuss the possible impact LIBOR replacement could have on our U.K. RMBS ratings. We deep dive into differen...
The Impact Of An Overvalued U.S. Housing Market On RMBS
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
RMBS Sector Lead Jeremy Schneider joins us this week to discuss how U.S. home prices have made significant gains recently, leading to a shift in the U...
Current State Of Latin America Structured Finance
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Jose Coballasi and Antonio Zellek to discuss the current state of Structured Finance in Latin America. We touch on Latin America's ove...
Structured Finance Vs. Cyber Risk
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Matt Mitchell to discuss how Structured Finance securitizations prepare against cyber risks. We discuss how a securitization could be ...
Is Commercial Real Estate In Covered Bonds Worth The Risk?
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This time, Casper Anderson joins us to discuss commercial real estate (CRE) in covered bonds. Is CRE in covered bonds worth the risk? We do a deep div...
Directive Issued To Harmonize EU Covered Bonds
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our host Tom Schopflocher is joined by analyst Casper Anderson to discuss covered bonds; this time it's the EU directive, which is now on its way to b...
How Structured Finance Sectors Are Exposed To ESG Credit Factors
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) has become even more prevalent since our last episode on the subject on Oct. 17, 2019. Kate Scanlin and Ma...
First-Quarter European RMBS Market Update
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher speaks with credit analyst Alastair Bigley on key developments in the European RMBS market for first-quarter 2021. Performance h...
How The Southern European Nonperforming Loan Market Is Performing
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Although nonperforming loans (NPLs) are toxic, there is a market for securitizing NPLs. We're joined by analyst Fabio Alderotti this week to discuss t...
The Impact Of The FCA's Official LIBOR Cessation Dates On Structured Finance
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher is joined by Senior Director John Detweiler to discuss the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) recent confirmation of the dates ...
2021 Latin American Outlook: A Challenging Environment Won't Stop New Issuance
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Latin American Sector Lead Jose Coballasi joins host Tom Schopflocher to discuss our 2021 Latin American Structured Finance outlook. While collateral ...
Private Equity Collateralized Fund Obligations Make An Appearance Amid COVID-19
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher is joined by credit analysts Jie Liang and James Yu in a discussion about private equity collateralized fund obligations (CFOs)....
Global Structured Finance Outlook: Resilience Could Mean Another $1 Trillion-Plus
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode of the year, hosts Tom Schopflocher and James Manzi recap the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on 2020 performance, and then summarize ...
The Danish Covered Bond Market
16 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We complete our coverage on European covered bonds with the Danish market, the largest in the world. Covered bonds analyst Casper Andersen returns wit...
U.S. Structured Finance Issuance Volume Picks Up The Pace
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our hosts Tom Schopflocher and James Manzi give an update on U.S. structured finance issuance. Issuance returned to form in September, reaching $54 bi...
The Swedish Covered Bond Market
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We continue with our look at local covered bond markets, this time in Sweden. Covered bonds analyst Casper Andersen returns with host Tom Schopflocher...
2020 European Structured Finance Conference Recap: Where Do We Go From Here
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Head of S&P Global Ratings EMEA Structured Finance Research Andrew South joins host Tom to recap our third annual European Structured Finance Conferen...
Not-For-Profit Health Care SBPA-Backed VRDOs During COVID-19
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Analysts Anne Cosgrove, Alex Gombach, and Santos Souffront join our host Tom to discuss U.S. public finance health care variable-rate demand obligatio...
The German Covered Bond Market
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher talks to credit analyst Casper Andersen about the current state of German covered bonds, or Pfandbriefe. Germany has the second-...
Revised Global 2020 Structured Finance Issuance Forecasts
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode back, hosts Tom Schopflocher and James Manzi discuss how COVID-19 has hampered structured finance issuance levels across the glob...
ESG And Other Key Takeaways From SFVegas 2020
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Tom and Jim cover hot topics from this year's SFVegas. Matt Mitchell joins to discuss ESG, which remains a challenge in the structured finance m...
2020 Global Structured Finance Outlook: Another $1 Trillion-Plus
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Tom Schopflocher and Jim Manzi discuss our expectation of another $1 trillion-plus in issuance volume for Global Structured Finance in 2020, as ...
Non-QM Market Deep Dive
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Tom Schopflocher and Jim Manzi take a deeper look at the non-QM market, which has been doubling and then some every year for the past few years....
Covering More New Ground: The Rise Of Sustainable Covered Bonds
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're following up on our previous covered bonds episode with a discussion on the new flavor of environmental- and social-themed covered bonds on the ...
Incorporating ESG Into Our Structured Finance Framework
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
ESG is everywhere lately, but how does it fit into structured finance? We've long considered ESG in our analysis, but when one of the three becomes...
Conference Recap: ABS East 2019
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's Take Notes' first anniversary! We head back to ABS East, where S&P Global Ratings hosted and attended a variety of panels, and cover the most-di...
U.S. Student Loans: Should We Forgive And Forget?
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
ABS Senior Director John Anglim joins the podcast to demystify U.S. student loans. We dive into a breakdown of the 45 million borrowers who own the $1...
What's Up (CLO) Docs?
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Not only do investors have to master the collateral in a CLO transaction, they have to master its documentation as well. Stephen Anderberg, Tim Walsh,...
What Are Investor Property DSCR Loans?
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
They use a commercial mortgage underwriting metric, but they're popping up in the residential space and are QM-exempt--so what exactly are DSCR loans?...
Conference Recap: European Structured Finance Conference 2019
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher and Andy South discuss S&P Global Ratings' second European SF conference in London, including overall market sentiment, issuance...
The Evolution Of Marketplace Lending
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Marketplace—or P2P—lending has been taking off since the recession. Host Tom Schopflocher talks to credit analyst Doug Paterson about how this mar...
RMBS Down Under
15 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're on the road again—this time to Australia! Host Tom Schopflocher and credit analyst Erin Kitson discuss economic conditions, the Australian mor...
What's Heating Up In The Solar ABS Space
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Take Notes is back and brighter than ever! We're talking solar assets, including power purchase agreements versus PACE and how financing works for dif...
Conference Recap: Global ABS In Barcelona
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Host Tom Schopflocher and Andy South discuss AFME and IMN's 23rd global ABS conference, touching on the key themes of regulation, especially in Euro...
Conference Recap: IMN CLO Conference 2019
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Tom and Jim lead a rundown of our takeaways from IMN's recent CLO and leveraged loan conference, particularly on hot topics such as corporate cr...
Co-Working On The Rise: A New Office Space For CMBS And REITs
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Host Jim Manzi leads a discussion on the rising trend of co-working spaces with credit analysts Ana Lai, Jeevan Dhoot, and Senay Dawit, including the ...
Co-Working On The Rise: A New Office Space For CMBS And REITs
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Host Jim Manzi leads a discussion on the rising trend of co-working spaces with credit analysts Ana Lai, Jeevan Dhoot, and Senay Dawit, including the ...
Covering New Ground: Covered Bonds Expand Into New Markets
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Everything you ever wanted to know about covered bonds: what are they? How do cover pools work? Where are they issued and what's going on in the marke...
Blockchain On The Brain
10 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It seems everyone's in on the crypto craze, but does blockchain have a future in structured finance? Tom Schopflocher talks with director of blockchai...
Across The Pond With European CMBS
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Manzi talks with CMBS analysts Mathias Herzog and Edward Twort about the deal pipeline and two of the biggest topics in the European CMBS market—...
Conference Recap: SFIG Vegas 2019
12 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss key themes from the largest SFIG Vegas Conference to date! Our hosts' quick takes on education finance, blockchain, LIBOR, and more.
Conference Recap: CREFC 2019 And A Look Across The CMBS Market
30 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Next stop on the conference train: CREFC. Host Jim Manzi talks leverage, lodging, retail, 2019 outlooks, and what we heard from issuers and investors ...
When You Use Your Whole Business To Securitize…
14 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It sometimes takes a company's whole business to raise capital. In this episode of Take Notes, we dive into what whole business securitization is with...
ABS East Recap
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The 2018 ABS East Conference just wrapped up, with our analysts hosting and attending panels and discussions on every major asset class. In the inaugu...