LP round up: CLO fund included in whopping $13 billion of credit allocations in November
Credit took centre stage in November as investors allocated over $13 billion to credit funds in the month, with one pension allocating $50 million for a European CLO risk retention fund 

Lev loan index rule change proposed to meet Sofr switch
Leveraged loan index stakeholders are being asked for feedback on a proposal that would allow the inclusion of loans linked to Sofr and scrap a minimum spread rule

Firm claims to cut loan settlement times with blockchain based securitisation
Cadeia, a German technology firm, claims to have undertaken the first ever fully blockchain based corporate loan securitisation transaction

Axa IM raises €1.2 billion for SRTs
Axa Investment Managers has closed Partner Capital Solutions VIII, a significant risk transfer (SRT) strategy, at roughly €1.2 billion, according to an announcement.

CLO lower cap stack will outperform with $175bn new issuance in 2022: JP Morgan
Equity and lower rated tranche investors will do best as $175 billion of global new CLO issuance arrives in 2022, predict JP Morgan strategists in their annual outlook, taking market size to $1.2 trillion

Ex-Citi structured products co-head launches crypto investment firm
Citi's former structured products trading co-head has launched a venture investment firm for crypto companies, digital assets and blockchain protocols with an inaugural $1.5 billion multi-strategy venture

NatWest hires head of Emea leveraged credit sales
NatWest has tapped Nomura for a head of leveraged credit sales position after its head of credit sales left for Jefferies in September 

Loans will be winners in bearish year for credit: BNP Paribas
Floating rate loans are best positioned for a year of widening credit spreads, but high yield bonds will outperform investment grade and EM credit is set for losses, says BNP Paribas in its 2022 outlook

Amundi replaces European loan head and appoints deputy
Amundi has shaken up the hierarchy of its loan business with a personnel shuffle at the top

BlueBay launches Article 8 multi-asset credit fund with Lloyds of London backing
The Article 8 fund will invest in high yield, bank loans, financial capital bonds, structured credit, convertible bonds, emerging markets and developed market investment grade

BNP Paribas bolsters credit business with European strategy head hire
BNP Paribas is looking to strategy to help drive growth in its credit business and has hired a head of European credit strategy from UBS 

Elfa launches ESG exclusion checklist to streamline process for CLO managers
The European Leveraged Finance Association has launched an environmental, social and governance exclusion checklist, which it says is designed to “streamline the negative screening and exclusion” for CLO managers

CLO resets drive equity returns to highest in five years: JP Morgan
Equity investors in US CLOs are earning, on average, the biggest returns of the past five years, finds JP Morgan – with deals reset this year having done most to raise the numbers

Hayfin hires senior business development officials from BlackRock and Atalaya
Hayfin Capital Management has hired two New York-based managing directors to its business development team

Amherst Pierpont takes total return approach as it builds CLO analytics platform
Amherst Pierpont is making CLO analysis the focal point of a push into the asset class, with the brokerage creating a platform that looks at the alpha and beta generated by a CLO manager, as well as their pricing on CLO liabilities.

Sofr transition timing puts CLO debt and equity at odds, says BNP Paribas
CLO investors look to have tough conversations ahead on the structure implications of the transition from Libor to Sofr, with BNP Paribas strategists noting CLO debt will benefit from an early move while equity tranches would do better to wait

Credit hedge funds (November 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Robus and Altana enter the final sprint neck and neck
A downward turn hit Ucits funds as 65% of them made positive returns in September,

"CLO equity investors have long accepted basis risk… but an off-market adjustment does not work"
The 26bp adjustment is disrupting the transition away from Libor — but market forces will prevail

Hayfin creates head of ESG role in London
Hayfin Capital Management says it has hired a head of ESG. This is a newly-created role, but Hayfin says it has “well-established environmental, social and governance capabilities”

Axa IM launches multi-strat fund for pensions
Axa Investment Managers’ ‘alternatives’ business has launched an open-ended strategy for pension funds

There's still time to pick up pennies in credit before steamroller arrives: BNP Paribas
Declining dealer inventories, rising fund cash balances, and a greater prevalence of hedging have added up to produce a credit market that is positioned too short, according to BNP Paribas strategists

Wells Fargo AM becomes Allspring under new ownership
Wells Fargo Asset Management has completed its transformation into Allspring Global Investment 

A&M hires high profile SRT official from StormHarbour
 One of the biggest names in the significant risk transfer industry has joined Alvarez & Marsal in London 

Bennett Goodman's Hunter Point buys stake in MidOcean
Hunter Point, which was launched by Blackstone Credit’s co-founder Bennett Goodman alongside Avi Kalichstein in 2020, has made its first investment and bought a minority stake in mid-market specialist MidOcean