Symphony CLO XX, Ltd. -- Moody's assigns ratings to five classes of CLO refinancing notes issued by Symphony CLO XX, Ltd. and upgrades one class of outstanding notes

Rating Action: Moody's assigns ratings to five classes of CLO refinancing notes issued by Symphony CLO XX, Ltd. and upgrades one class of outstanding notes

Global Credit Research - 19 Jan 2021

New York, January 19, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has assigned ratings to five classes of CLO refinancing notes (the "Refinancing Notes") issued by Symphony CLO XX, Ltd. (the "Issuer").

Moody's rating action is as follows:

U.S.$23,000,000 Class A-2a-R Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes Due 2032 (the "Class A-2a-R Notes"), Assigned Aaa (sf)

U.S.$2,000,000 Class A-2b-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes Due 2032 (the "Class A-2b-R Notes"), Assigned Aaa (sf)

U.S.$42,000,000 Class B-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes Due 2032 (the "Class B-R Notes"), Assigned Aa2 (sf)

U.S.$20,750,000 Class C-R Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate Notes Due 2032 (the "Class C-R Notes"), Assigned A2 (sf)

U.S.$24,750,000 Class D-R Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate Notes Due 2032 (the "Class D-R Notes"), Assigned Baa3 (sf)

Additionally, Moody's has taken rating action on the following outstanding notes originally issued by the Issuer on January 31, 2019 (the "Original Closing Date"):

U.S.$20,500,000 Class E Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate Notes due 2032 (the "Class E Notes"), Upgraded to Ba3 (sf); previously on June 19, 2020 Downgraded to B1 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on our methodology and considers all relevant risks particularly those associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO). The issued notes are collateralized primarily by a portfolio of broadly syndicated senior secured corporate loans.

Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (the "Manager") will continue to direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of the assets on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's remaining reinvestment period.

The Issuer previously issued four other classes of secured notes and one class of subordinated notes, which will remain outstanding.

Moody's rating action on the Class E Notes is primarily a result of the refinancing, which increases excess spread available as credit enhancement to the rated notes.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.