Credit terms tightened for big U.S. investors in the autumn, a Federal Reserve survey showed. The Fed's Senior Credit Officer Opinion was introduced last year and looks at financing terms for institutional investors, including private-equity investors, hedge funds and insurers.
The latest survey was done between Nov. 15 and Nov. 28 on 20 institutions and asked about changes between September and November. Responses "indicated a broad but moderate tightening of credit terms. … This tightening was especially evident for hedge fund clients, trading real estate investment trusts and nonfinancial corporations," the report said.
The Fed conducts the survey every three months. In the latest one, all but two firms reported a rise in the resources and attention devoted to the management of concentrated exposures to dealers and other financial intermediaries as well as to central counterparties and other financial utilities over the past three months. "These responses reflect an apparent continuation and intensification of developments already in evidence in the September survey," the report said.
