NB Global makes positive start to the year

15th May 2013 09:06

NB Global Floating Rate Income Fund made a positive start to the year with a strong performance in loan markets in the US and Europe.The US S&P/LSTA Loan Index produced a total return of 2.11% while the S&P European Leveraged Loan Index (ELLI) 2.52% in the year to date, according to a trading update Wednesday.Collateralised loan obligations (CLO), mutual funds and pension fund investments drove results.During the period, the company started to see a pick up in quality issuance in Europe with Virgin Media and Kion both returning to market with fixed rate offerings. The group's exposure to the region increased to 7.1% from 4.6% at the year end."As we have maintained, Europe will always provide good names to invest in but we will remain selective," NB said.The firm expects more issuance to come out of Europe this year. The largest contributor to performance in 2013 will be coupon payments, the group added.Shares increased 0.09% to 105.50p at 09:22 Wednesday.RD