Fund performance: Lightning strikes twice as range of credit funds deliver
What seemed like a chance occurrence in February has struck again in March, as seven categories make our top 10 best performing hedge funds

Credit hedge funds (May 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Altana moves into pole position
March marked a drop in pace for Ucits funds as only 62% of funds made positive returns, compared to 80% in February

US Libor falls to record low of 17.29 basis points on 21 April
Three-month US Libor plunged to historic lows last month, posting at just 17.29 basis points on 21 April

CLOs cushioned as regulators get more comfortable on Sofr
The quest to find a suitable Libor replacement looks to have taken a big step forward in recent weeks, with hopes rekindled that securitised products such as CLOs and ABS could soon make use of a term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (Sofr)

Credit fundraising: three massive European direct lending funds notch up €17.6 bn
Fundraising figures continued upwards in April as just over $24 billion was raised for credit funds, alongside $3.2 worth of allocations to credit managers. Nine funds held final closes including the largest European direct lending fund raised to date

US pension terminates three credit mandates due to 'underperformance' and relative value
The New Mexico pension terminated one multi-asset credit mandate and two bank loan mandates

Fitch lowers US loan default rates for 2021 and 2022
The rating agency has $200.9 billion of ‘market concern loans’ on its radar, saying these have declined in volume for the 12^th month straight but are still up 16% from pre-pandemic.

Standard Life Aberdeen 2 rbrnd 2 Abrdn
Standard Life Aberdeen has announced that it is changing its name to Abrdn (pronounced Aberdeen) 

CME touts forward-looking Sofr term benchmarks
CME Group has begun publishing term benchmarks for the secured overnight interest rate (Sofr) as part of the global push to move away from Libor in financial markets

S&P lowers default rate forecast for US loan index
S&P Global Ratings has revised down its leveraged loan default rate forecast for the end of the year, based on the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, from 3.5% to 2.75%

Lord Abbett prepares special situations interval fund
Lord Abbett is preparing to launch a new special situations fund in the form of an interval fund

Credit Rendezvous: ready and waiting
In Creditflux's quarterly review of credit, portfolio managers tell us that Inflation is likely to nudge higher but they are optimistic because dispersion will pick up and windows of volatility will emerge, rather than elongated phases of stress 

Beneath the triple C: CLOs benefit as upgrades make for lighter triple C buckets
For the first time since the sell off in March last year, downgrades to triple C have come to a near-standstill

Los Angeles pension opens search for private credit consultant
The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension is on the hunt for a private credit investment consultant after recently adopting a 2% allocation

Credit fundraising: Goldman Sachs direct lending fund takes March figures to $23 bn
Credit funds sprung forward in March as $23 billion was raised alongside $2.6 billion worth of allocations to credit managers. 

BofA and Citi unveil multi-dealer platform for CLOs and loans
Bank of America and Citi have joined forces with plans for a multi-dealer CLO and loan platform which will cover trading, data and analytics

"The heterogeneous set of KPIs make comparisons difficult and self-policing hurts credibility"
Loans with ESG ratchets are popular and a good way to align incentives – but we need accountable external reviewers

CLOs wheel and deal as overlap increases
2020 CLOs are a different breed to any other vintage. But this cohort features an overlap of almost 40% as CLO issuers have been forced to focus almost entirely on secondary market loans

Fund managers brace for EU’s new sustainability regulations
European fund managers were faced with new environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) regulations in March, which enhance disclosure requirements around sustainability

ESG drive poses little threat to CLO returns or flexibility, says Moody's
Environmental, social and governance investment criteria are not impairing CLOs either in flexibility or performance, Moody's Investors Service has found in a new report

Loan technical and supply glut keeps CLOs in check
CLO asset and liability spreads moved wider in March owing to unprec-edented volumes of issuance, despite investors rotating into floating-rate products amid rising treasury rates

CLO managers eye bonds as short-dated loan universe shrinks
European CLO managers that focus on bonds say they had flexibility in the first quarter as the new issue loan pipeline ramped up

Loan pipeline builds to fuel US CLO production into Q2
US CLO new issuance, already on a high, is set to be spurred on by a healthy loan pipeline over the second quarter of 2021

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris lead the pack again
Ucits funds saw the brighter side of February, as 80% of funds achieved a positive return