Santander | One good one, and then… And while flows into IG funds reach record highs of $19mm YTD globally, corporate bankruptcies have also jumped to record highs in the EU. And they grew by +27% in Q4 to the highest level since Eurostat has been collecting data (2015). On the other hand, although the technical picture is undoubtedly good, the trajectory is not. And while Europe is experiencing a clear slowdown in inflows ($674mn last week vs $1.4mm weekly average YTD), $ credit funds experienced strong outflows last week ($5.7mm), the worst since August, with $IG -2.9mm and $HY -$2.8mm. In this context, and in another intense week of primary (€24mm, although from more to less) and negative returns in credit, demand slowed sharply to a b/c of 2x (4x the previous week) with some issues trading above reoffer (Vodafone and Unicredit’s SNP, +7bp, for example). Curves for a primary after two weeks of secondary increases (iBoxx EUR Banks Senior +9bp, iBoxx EUR NonFin +5bp since 7 February) and experiencing the last week of total ECB maturity buybacks before the start of QT on 1 March.
Bankruptcies rise 27% and hit record highs in Europe
