Investment Strategies

Brigade offers a broad range of investments across the credit spectrum. Investors can access our credit strategies through commingled funds or separately managed accounts.

Firm Wide AUM

$26Bn

as of January 1, 2024

Headquarters In

New York

Founded In

2006

The High Yield Strategy seeks to generate returns that outperform the ICE BofA Merrill Lynch US High Yield Constrained Index (HUC0) over a credit cycle and employs a bottom-up, fundamental research-based process focused on free cash flow generation, asset coverage, and relative value analysis.

For more information on Brigade’s opportunistic high yield mutual fund please click on the following link www.brigadefunds.com

The Leveraged Loan Strategy seeks to achieve income generation and long-term capital growth by strategically investing in a diversified portfolio of senior secured leveraged loans as well as select opportunistic investments amongst non-traditional sub-strategies within below investment grade credit.

The Long/Short Credit Strategy invests across four core sub-strategies of leveraged finance, including high yield, distressed, structured credit, and leveraged equities. The strategy is absolute-return focused with allocations to the four sub-strategies and overall net exposure fluctuating based on credit spreads, default rates, and the broader economy. A fundamental, bottom-up investment approach ensures a focus on risk-adjust returns in a broad opportunity set.

The Opportunistic Credit Strategy is designed to tactically allocate amongst the different sub-strategies within credit, including high yield bonds, leveraged loans, structured credit and distressed debt, and may include “macro” hedges (e.g., index shorts) to reduce beta and/or dampen market volatility.

The Dislocation Strategy seeks to generate strong total returns by capitalizing on opportunities that arise when corporate and structured credit securities become mispriced after periods of significant market stress. Instruments traded in this strategy can include high yield bonds, leveraged loans, CLO tranches, liquid synthetic index tranches, municipal bonds, convertible bonds, and preferreds.

The Structured Credit Strategies implement a wide variety of credit and fixed income instruments to achieve equity-like returns with lower risk and more defined return outcomes. The core of this process is a fundamental understanding of credit risk married with the infrastructure and expertise required to assess complex structures. Investment opportunities include synthetic structured credit and cash structured products including ABS, CLOs, CMBS, and RMBS.

The Senior Structured Credit mandates primarily invest in investment grade structured product tranches across ABS, CLOs, CMBS, and RMBS, and actively rotate across the senior part of the capital structure. The strategy’s investment style focuses on two key disciplines that optimize the firm’s capabilities: 1) fundamental credit analysis and 2) structural expertise. Brigade believes that an investment in higher quality securitized debt tranches provides the opportunity to take advantage of the complexity premium associated with these tranches.

The Credit Relative Value Strategy targets a long-short approach in corporate structured credit to achieve attractive, uncorrelated returns using a directionally neutral, relative value investment style. It focuses on investing in three interconnected markets: liquid credit derivatives (such as index tranches or options), equity volatility, and corporate structured products.

Brigade offers a full suite of credit solutions across the liquidity spectrum, leveraging a disciplined investment process and integrated platform of industry-focused specialists. We partner with and invest in directly originated senior secured loans of lower middle-market sponsor and non-sponsor companies based in North America.

Brigade’s Global CLO and CBO Management Platform, as of January 1, 2024, manages 23 transactions across the U.S. and Europe. Brigade issued its first CLO in 2007 and has been consistently issuing since inception. The platform is supported by Brigade’s team of fundamental, sector-specific credit analysts who evaluate loans throughout the leveraged finance market.

High Yield

The High Yield Strategy seeks to generate returns that outperform the ICE BofA Merrill Lynch US High Yield Constrained Index (HUC0) over a credit cycle and employs a bottom-up, fundamental research-based process focused on free cash flow generation, asset coverage, and relative value analysis.

For more information on Brigade’s opportunistic high yield mutual fund please click on the following link www.brigadefunds.com

Leveraged Loans

The Leveraged Loan Strategy seeks to achieve income generation and long-term capital growth by strategically investing in a diversified portfolio of senior secured leveraged loans as well as select opportunistic investments amongst non-traditional sub-strategies within below investment grade credit.

Long/Short Credit

The Long/Short Credit Strategy invests across four core sub-strategies of leveraged finance, including high yield, distressed, structured credit, and leveraged equities. The strategy is absolute-return focused with allocations to the four sub-strategies and overall net exposure fluctuating based on credit spreads, default rates, and the broader economy. A fundamental, bottom-up investment approach ensures a focus on risk-adjust returns in a broad opportunity set.

Opportunistic Credit

The Opportunistic Credit Strategy is designed to tactically allocate amongst the different sub-strategies within credit, including high yield bonds, leveraged loans, structured credit and distressed debt, and may include “macro” hedges (e.g., index shorts) to reduce beta and/or dampen market volatility.

Dislocation

The Dislocation Strategy seeks to generate strong total returns by capitalizing on opportunities that arise when corporate and structured credit securities become mispriced after periods of significant market stress. Instruments traded in this strategy can include high yield bonds, leveraged loans, CLO tranches, liquid synthetic index tranches, municipal bonds, convertible bonds, and preferreds.

Structured Credit

The Structured Credit Strategies implement a wide variety of credit and fixed income instruments to achieve equity-like returns with lower risk and more defined return outcomes. The core of this process is a fundamental understanding of credit risk married with the infrastructure and expertise required to assess complex structures. Investment opportunities include synthetic structured credit and cash structured products including CLOs, CRE and ABS.

Senior Structured Credit

The Senior Structured Credit mandates primarily invest in investment grade structured product tranches across ABS, CLOs and CMBS, and actively rotate across the senior part of the capital structure. The strategy’s investment style focuses on two key disciplines that optimize the firm’s capabilities: 1) fundamental credit analysis and 2) structural expertise. Brigade believes that an investment in higher quality securitized debt tranches provides the opportunity to take advantage of the complexity premium associated with these tranches.

Credit Relative Value

The Credit Relative Value Strategy targets a long-short approach in corporate structured credit to achieve attractive, uncorrelated returns using a directionally neutral, relative value investment style. It focuses on investing in three interconnected markets: liquid credit derivatives (such as index tranches or options), equity volatility, and corporate structured products.

Brigade offers a full suite of credit solutions across the liquidity spectrum, leveraging a disciplined investment process and integrated platform of industry-focused specialists. We partner with and invest in directly originated senior secured loans of lower middle-market sponsor and non-sponsor companies based in North America.

Brigade’s Global CLO and CBO Management Platform, as of January 1, 2024, manages 23 transactions across the U.S. and Europe. Brigade issued its first CLO in 2007 and has been consistently issuing since inception. The platform is supported by Brigade’s team of fundamental, sector-specific credit analysts who evaluate loans throughout the leveraged finance market.