How should I start as a CLO research analyst？

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Hi guys, I recently get a job to work as a CLO research analyst. The company is a small-sized CLO manager in China, kind of raising money from Chinese institutional investors and then investing in US & European CLO products. The position is an entry-level analyst in its research department, where there are about 10 analysts in all and each one covers about 10 companies(with 2 or 3 industries maybe). Daily work mainly include fundamental research about the companies issuing underlying leveraged loans, and most of them may be in trouble so we need to predict cash flows & conduct coverage tests to decide whether to leave the company’s loan in the ptf or to replace it etc.

Could you please give me some advice on how to start, like any tutorials or materials online I can follow?

Also, since I initially wanted to do equity research, but things didn’t go well and I failed for the stock pitch interview. Someone told me that the research work for equity side and fixed income side could be totally different. Would it be possible to switch to equity research in the future, or I must say good-bye to equity side once starting as a credit analyst?

Any advice will be helpful, thanks a lot!

#2

Like in all finance fields, the best way to learn is to network with people with experience and ask them about the work. People who are good at these jobs usually don’t write books about their advantages.

Also, given the backdrop of scandals lately, keep an eye our for illegal activities and report them to authorities, since chances are the whistleblower award will be as much as many years of your compensation at the job.

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