OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings expects to assign the following rating and Rating Outlook to Annisa CLO, Ltd./LLC:

--$256,000,000 class A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.

Fitch does not expect to rate the class B, C, D or E notes or the subordinated notes.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

Annisa CLO, Ltd. (the issuer) and Annisa CLO, LLC (the co-issuer) comprise an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that will be managed by Invesco RR Fund L. P. (a majority-owned affiliate of Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc.). Net proceeds from the issuance of secured notes and subordinated notes will be used to purchase a portfolio of approximately $400 million of primarily senior-secured leveraged loans. The CLO will have an approximately four-year reinvestment period and a two-year noncall period.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) of 36.0% for class A notes, in addition to excess spread, is sufficient to protect against portfolio default and recovery rate projections in the 'AAAsf' stress scenario. The degree of CE available for class A notes is in line with the average CE of recent 'AAAsf' CLO notes.

'B+/B' Asset Quality: The average credit quality of the indicative portfolio is 'B+/B', which is comparable to recent CLOs. Issuers rated in the 'B' rating category denote a highly speculative credit quality; however, in Fitch Ratings' opinion, class A notes are unlikely to be affected by the foreseeable level of defaults. Class A notes are projected to be able to withstand default rates of up to 63.3%.

Strong Recovery Expectations: The indicative portfolio consists of 98.1% first-lien senior secured loans. Approximately 93.9% of the indicative portfolio has either strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned recovery rating of 'RR2' or higher and the base case recovery assumption is 80.2%. In determining the ratings for class A notes, Fitch stressed the indicative portfolio by assuming a higher portfolio concentration of assets with lower recovery prospects and further reduced recovery assumptions for higher rating stresses resulting in a 41.4% recovery rate in Fitch's 'AAAsf' scenario.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Fitch evaluated the structure's sensitivity to the potential variability of key model assumptions, including decreases in recovery rates and increases in default rates or correlation. Fitch expects the class A notes to remain investment grade, even under the most extreme sensitivity scenarios. Results under these sensitivity scenarios ranged between 'AA-sf' and 'AAAsf' for the class A notes.

Fitch published an exposure draft of its Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds on April 14, 2016. The exposure draft serves as the operative criteria report for this ratings analysis. Under the exposure draft, a direct support counterparty is expected to maintain a long-term rating of at least 'A' or a short-term rating of at least 'F1' to support note ratings of up to 'AAAsf'. The issuer's account holder, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, National Association (BNY Mellon) satisfies the minimum expected ratings threshold for a direct support counterparty under the exposure draft framework.

Fitch's existing counterparty criteria, dated May 2014, as well as the issuer's governing documents, expects this role to be fulfilled by an institution with a long-term rating of at least 'A' and a short-term rating of at least 'F1'. BNY Mellon's long-term and short-term ratings currently meet this expectation. Therefore, the rating for class A notes remains achievable under Fitch's existing criteria.

The framework regarding expectations for qualified investments has not materially changed between the existing criteria and the exposure draft.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

No third party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

The publication of a representations, warranties and enforcement mechanisms appendix is not required for this transaction.