Author series: Opening credit – A practitioner?s guide to credit investment

Author series: Opening credit – A practitioner?s guide to credit investment
Tue 09 Feb 16 at Bloomberg, London

In recent years the world has witnessed unprecedented growth in global corporate credit markets. Yet, despite the trillions of dollars put to work in the debt capital markets, corporate credit is still an unfamiliar concept to most investors compared to other asset classes, such as equities and commodities.

Every red-top newspaper and 24-hour news service is happy to report the latest twitch in the Dow, FTSE or Stoxx indices but momentous moves in the iBoxx or iTraxx go unmentioned. And whereas many a talking head is happy to pose as an equity analyst, few feel comfortable venturing into the arcana of credit. Yet, the corporate credit market, as the authors speaking at this event show, is both materially larger than its equity peer and has shown more attractive risk/reward characteristics over the last 90-odd years.

At this session, Justin McGowan and Duncan Sankey aim to draw on more than 50 years’ combined experience in the field to elucidate a practitioner’s approach to corporate credit investment. Whilst explaining the basics of traditional credit analysis and affirming its value, they also caution against its shortcomings.

This event will also be held in New York by the local society there, NYSSA.

Speakers:

Justin McGowan
Partner and Portfolio Director, Cheyne Capital Management

Justin McGowan?s career in finance spans 25 years. His analytical experience covers the full range of the capital structure, in both equity and credit instruments and he has worked on the sell- and buy-sides in disciplines ranging from bank loans, corporate bonds, emerging market equities, long/short equity and credit hedge funds, long-only funds and synthetic credit products. After an early apprenticeship in corporate finance, spent largely in Southern European markets, he moved on to work at a major credit ratings agency in New York and London, where he focused on the energy sector and subsequently on Germany?s Mittelstand issuers across a wide range of industries.

Thereafter, Justin became an I.I.-rated Emerging Markets Equity Analyst and Director of Research, working principally out of New York, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. Returning to England in 2001, he re-entered the world of credit, where he has worked ever since.

Justin has advised on investments in corporations and parastatal entities in the financial, manufacturing,
energy, natural resources, retailing, consumer, healthcare and media sectors globally.

Duncan Sankey
Partner, Portfolio Director and Head of Credit Research, Cheyne Capital Management

Duncan Sankey has 27 years? experience in credit investment and lending in a career spanning commercial and investment banking, a leading ratings agency, the origination and management of sell-side research teams and, most recently, fund management, including investment in alternative strategies and structured corporate credit.

Duncan’s analytical experience has covered the full gamut from financials and corporates (utilities, autos and suppliers, industrials, leisure, consumer products, transportation and real estate) to sovereigns, supra-sovereigns and parastatals. His experience of credit analysis and investment encompasses both established and emerging markets (particularly those of Asia and Eastern Europe) and he has worked in London, New York and Atlanta.

As a practitioner of credit in the wake of the corporate scandals during the first few years of the millennium, Duncan became increasingly interested in the role played by corporate governance. This led him to pursue studies in the topic in the academic arena, where he has written on such matters as the bond market?s failure to adopt standardised comprehensive bond covenants and contributed to published academic research on
governance, regulation and financial market instability and its impact on policy.

Duncan has written on credit issues for trade journals, discussed them on financial TV and often presents on credit matters to industry conferences. He is an associate of the London Centre for Corporate Governance and Ethics and a member of the Examinations and Education Committee of CFA UK.