OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the class A-1 and class A-2 notes issued by NewStar Commercial Loan Funding 2015-1 LLC at 'AAAsf'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The affirmation is based on the credit enhancement (CE) available to the notes and the stable performance of the underlying portfolio since the transaction's closing in March 2015.

The loan portfolio par amount plus principal cash is approximately $501.9 million (excluding PIK and capitalized interest amounts), as of the Feb. 10, 2016 trustee report, resulting in a marginal increase in CE for the class A-1 and class A-2 notes. All collateral quality tests, concentration limitations, and coverage tests are in compliance, and there are no defaulted assets in the portfolio.

The portfolio is managed to a Fitch Test Matrix, featuring various combinations of permitted Fitch weighted average rating factor (WARF), Fitch weighted average Recovery Rating (WARR), and weighted average spread (WAS) triggers. As of the effective date on Aug. 10, 2015, the manager selected and continues to manage to a maximum WARF of 39.0 ('B/B-'), minimum WARR of 64.65% and minimum WAS of 5.15%. As of Feb. 10, 2016, the trustee reported the Fitch WARF of 35.9 ('B/B-'), WARR of 77.3%, and the WAS of 5.34%. The loan portfolio (excluding cash) is invested in 88% senior secured middle market (MM) loans and 12% in broadly syndicated loans.

The Stable Outlook on the class A-1 & class A-2 notes reflects the expectation that the notes have a sufficient level of credit protection to withstand potential deterioration in the credit quality of the portfolio.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

The ratings of the notes may be sensitive to the following: asset defaults, significant negative credit migration, and lower than historically observed recoveries for defaulted assets. Rating sensitivity analysis was conducted at close and the results were disclosed in the new issue report. Initial Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivity are further described in the New Issue Report published on June 15, 2015.

A comparison of the transaction's Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms (RW&Es) to those of typical RW&Es for that asset class is also available by accessing the reports and links indicated below.

NewStar Commercial Loan Funding 2015-1 is a collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that is managed by NewStar Financial, Inc. (NewStar). The transaction will remain in its reinvestment period until April 2019 and will mature in January 2027. Fitch's leveraged finance group provided model- and analyst-based credit opinions for the non-publicly rated loans in the portfolio, based on financial statements provided to Fitch by NewStar.

This review was conducted under the framework described in the report 'Global Rating Criteria for CLOs and Corporate CDOs' using Fitch's Portfolio Credit Model (PCM) to project future default and recovery levels for the underlying portfolio. Given the stable performances of each transaction, no updated cash flow modelling was completed for this review.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

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

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:

--$253,500,000 class A-1 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook stable
--$35,000,000 class A-2 notes at 'AAAsf'; Outlook stable

Fitch does not rate the class B, C, D, and Membership Interests.