Paul Cavey, an economist at Macquarie Securities, argues that the discrepancy is explained by the fact that energy-guzzling heavy industries, such as steel and aluminium, bore the brunt of the slowdown last year.
The North American Distressed Debt Market Outlook 2011, a survey of 100 experienced distressed debt investors released by Debtwire, Macquarie Capital and Bingham McCutchen, found that these investors will move their cash from energy to real estate assets and from first and second-lien loans to common equity and convertible bonds.