Barings BDC forms $550 million JV with South Carolina pension
The new joint venture will invest in both liquid and illiquid credit

The Last Tranche: awards season is upon us [podcast]
A look at 2018 award offerings and finalist, plus some insight on direct lending and b-wics

Jefferies subsidiary and Stonyrock plan mid-market alternative manager stake acquisitions
The new joint venture will invest in private equity, credit, hedge funds, real estate, venture, and infrastructure firms

BlackRock names global alternatives head amid senior leadership shake-up
BlackRock has reshuffled its leadership and made several senior changes across various parts of its business, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

Muzinich launches multi-strategy credit fund with Italian wealth manager
Available for retail investors, the fund will invest in syndicated loans, private debt and high yield. It will be structured as a European Long-Term Investment Fund

Italian pension fund seeks loan exposure through direct lending and large cap loan funds
Intesa Sanpaolo’s defined contribution pension scheme has issued a tender notice seeking senior secured loans and direct lending funds to invest in.  

Ares grows credit 34% with direct lending boost, but high yield takes rough ride in Q4
Ares Management Corporation reported strong returns for its European direct lending strategies in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the firm's overall revenues slumped and its US loan funds and high yield strategies were hit by the volatile credit market 

Carlyle performance dips in Q4, but credit teams ride global volatility
Credit fund performance dipped for the Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter, as market volatility and fund outflows put a dent in the industry’s much stronger performance of the previous three quarters

Performing credit tops distressed credit for Blackstone, but credit AUM declines
The firm is looking to boost its direct lending business to gain $10 billion of available capital over the next couple of years

Callan hires Cliffwater senior MD as head of alternatives
Callan, an institutional investment consultant, has appointed Pete Keliuotis as head of alternatives and executive vice president.  

Muzinich poaches Neuberger Berman MD for top fund distribution role
Muzinich has hired a global head of distribution, according to an announcement today, picking up the role previously held by Joshua Hughes, who left for CIFC Asset Management in May

Eversheds Sutherland promotes debt specialist to partner
Eversheds Sutherland has promoted one of its Washington based lawyers to partner

Spanish bank prices €972 million SRT with triple As paying 31bp
Cajamar Caja Rural, based in southern Spain, has priced a €972.1 million significant risk transfer (SRT), according to market sources

Singapore fund to lend to financial institutions in emerging and developing markets
Singapore’s EFA Group is aiming to raise $100 million for a fund that will lend to banks and financial institutions in emerging and developing economies

KKR promotes three European credit specialists to managing directors
KKR has promoted several members of its team to managing directors - including a former US CLO portfolio manager

Neiman Marcus loan slumps amid debt restructuring talks
The luxury fashion retailer’s $2.95 billion cov-lite term loan B, due October 2020, traded down 1.65%, according to IHS Markit 

Blackstone builds on multi-asset approach with fifth fund
The new vehicle will invest directly into Blackstone deals across its alternatives platform

Recent CLO debutant Vista brings in GSO official to lead credit team
Vista Credit Partners has hired a former GSO official to lead its credit team

California pension fund seeks opportunistic credit manager
Merced County Employees’ Retirement Association is on the search for an opportunistic credit manager, according to board minutes seen by Creditflux

Regulators suggest clampdown on UK loans
The Bank of England recently raised alarms about the state of the UK leveraged loan market, drawing parallels to the growth of the US sub-prime mortgage market

Ares ups its target for US senior direct lending growth to $4.7 billion
Following $5 billion of inflows into global direct lending in the third quarter, Ares has upped the target for its US direct lending strategy 

Fixed income heads join forces to launch macro credit fund manager in London
Resco Asset Management, a new asset manager based in London, has launched and set about marketing its debut fund: Resco Macro Credit Fund

TSSP launches capital solutions fund
TPG Sixth Street Partners (TSSP), the credit platform of private equity giant TPG, has launched a fund to target late stage growth companies

DWS and Tikehau unveil strategic alliance
The alliance will see the pair collaborate on several different alternative investment initiatives and cross-invest in respective funds