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When Victoria Luttman immersed herself in the rapidly evolving collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market in 2017, it was still a relatively niche sector. By the beginning of this decade, the CLO market had easily surpassed $1 trillion. As they say, timing is everything, and Luttman was the expert Bain Capital Credit was looking for, though her duties as associate general counsel have come to encompass far more partnership and work across the firm.
Since joining Bain Capital in 2022, Luttman’s work has expanded beyond CLO issuance to include partnerships with a wide variety of teams, including business strategists, portfolio managers, finance professionals, compliance officers, and trustees. The AGC has helped Bain adapt to significant changes in the CLO market as it has become more sophisticated and interconnected across global and regulatory borders.
Luttman always played a significant role in CLOs, including in shaping how they evolve in the market. With a rise of corporate restructuring transactions—deals led by aggressive credit groups that could dilute or strip value from nonparticipating lenders, including CLOs—Luttman led efforts to introduce new, flexible language into CLO documentation. These provisions allowed Bain’s CLOs the flexibility to participate in certain restructurings, positioning them to better preserve economic value for investors.
The explosion of the previously niche CLO market is the combination of many factors. In a world where traditional fixed-income returns have been compressed, CLOs offer a more attractive yield, especially during periods of rising or elevated interest rates. They provide a wide hedge against inflation and rate hikes.
CLOs have also demonstrated resilience through particularly dramatic market shocks like the pandemic, with lower default rates compared to similarly rated corporate bonds.
The leveraged loan market, responsible for the underlying assets for CLOs, has also grown significantly as more companies seek financing for mergers, acquisitions, and capital projects. This expansion has increased the pool of loans available for securitization, supporting more CLO issuance.
Luttman was first exposed to CLOs at firm Paul Hastings, where the attorney spent nearly five years before going in-house at Bain.
As the CLO market continued to evolve, Luttman’s role required her to become well-versed in European regulations, including risk retention and transparency reporting. The AGC was instrumental in pioneering the adoption of US-style restructuring protections in European CLOs and vice versa, ensuring Bain’s deals met the highest standards of both markets. The cross-pollination of best practices enabled Bain to attract a broader range of investors and maintain a leadership position in both regions.
The attorney says her work keeps her busy.
“I’m looking at about twenty different Outlook emails at the same time,” Luttman says, laughing. “It’s just the nature of the work.” That work ethic is what’s helped Bain stay ahead of quickly evolving regulatory requirements and a particularly proactive period of SEC legislation.
Luttman has a knack for bridging borders. The attorney is the daughter of a Taiwanese mother and an Australian father, but she was raised between Australia and the United States. Part of the attorney’s choice to pursue law came in watching her mother struggle in navigating a culture and language that didn’t weren’t native to her.
“The law represented being able to communicate and help people,” Luttman explains. “I saw my mother struggle a lot in not being able to speak English very well. I think I instinctively wanted to find a way to help people express themselves.”
Luttman’s talents run a wide gamut. In her university years, she found herself at the helm of a struggling coffee shop. Luttman was visiting two friends at their coffee and tea shop. She was honored because her friends had chosen to shut the shop down for the day but still hang out there with their friend.
“As it turned out, they weren’t closed at all,” Luttman remembers. “They just didn’t have any customers. My friends were both working full-time jobs and just pouring money into this business that was losing money.”
Luttman agreed to try and right the ship. She replaced powder-based drinks with authentic loose-leaf teas and introduced fruit smoothies. She successfully renegotiated what amounted to “no compete” clauses with neighboring restaurants to offer food that wouldn’t compete with high-end fare. And within a year, the shop had turned around. Luttman eventually made the decision to go to law school.
“As soon as things started going the right way, I became a little bored,” Luttman says. “I’m so grateful to have that experience, and I think it provided me with a real sense of service and empowerment in my own practice.”
Whether it’s a burgeoning financial product or a struggling coffee shop, Luttman’s relentless pursuit of performance and improvement will win the day. As her scope continues to widen, the young lawyer will no doubt continue to drive results in increasingly complex environments.
“Having worked closely with Victoria for the past few years, our professional collaboration quickly grew into a personal friendship, both of which I deeply value. Victoria is exceptionally bright and diligent, and has consistently demonstrated an unwavering ability to adapt and execute, including, and especially, when faced with unforeseen obstacles.”
–Kelly Mathews, Counsel
