Alcentra raises €690 million for closed-end credit fund
BNY Mellon subsidiary Alcentra has closed its Clareant Strategic Credit Fund with sales of €690 million. The vehicle, which originally had a target size of €500 million, is dedicated to opportunistic investing in the loans, bonds and structured credit of European companies

Credit funds lawyer becomes seventh to leave Ropes & Gray for rival law firm
Kirkland & Ellis has poached another funds lawyer from Ropes & Gray, naming James Board as the newest partner in its private investment funds team

UBS hires former BAML leveraged finance head in London
UBS has appointed a new managing director to its leveraged loan and high yield bond team. The new hire is a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank levereaged finance specialist

Candriam launches €107 million global bond fund
European asset manager Candriam has launched a €107 million total return bond fund that invests in sovereign bonds, corporate credit and currencies across both developed and emerging markets

Bridgepoint poaches ING leveraged finance star for new direct lending arm
Bridgepoint has hired an ING leveraged finance specialist to support its push into direct lending, sources say

GoldenTree partner joins Alcentra as co-chief investment officer in London
Vijay Rajguru, a partner at GoldenTree Asset Management, is joining Alcentra as its co-chief investment officer.

Debt communications firm Lucid launches trustee business with four hires
London-based debt issuer communications platform Lucid Issuer Services has made four senior hires and launched an agency and trustee services team

Chinese investment firm pushes into European credit with big hires
A Chinese global investment conglomorate is pushing into the leveraged loans, private debt and high yield space in Europe, and has hired two London-based leveraged finance specialists

Kirkland & Ellis poaches credit fund-focused partner from rival law firm
Anand Damodaran is the sixth partner Kirkland & Ellis has hired from Ropes & Gray this month, company announcements reveal. Earlier this month, Kirkland & Ellis hired a five-partner team focusing on investigations and government enforcement.

MUFG hires leveraged finance veteran in London
The firm has hired a new senior appointee to join its leveraged finance team as head of leveraged corporate origination and structuring

Institutional investors - does Europe still provide the best opportunities in credit?
Cash or synthetics, CLOs versus CMBS, senior or junior debt? Institutional investors have a variety of ways to approach credit investing and Creditflux's biannual survey of credit allocators aims to determine which market they view as offering compelling returns

Marketing specialist earns promotion at Muzinich with new global role
Muzinich has promoted Josh Hughes to head of global distribution 

ING shuffles the pack as US loans veteran takes on new role in London
It’s all change over at ING with several of the bank’s senior loan specialists embarking on major relocations

Structured credit specialist joins Danish pension fund as its CIO
A Copenhagen-based institution has brought in a structured credit pro fro Sampension to oversee its investment portfolio. Going forward, illiquid credit, including commercial real estate debt, is expected to feature more prominently in the pension fund's portfolio

Head of credit earns promotion in reshuffle at Kames
Head of credit Stephen Snowdon and senior fixed income specialist Adrian Hull have been promoted to co-heads of fixed income at Kames Capital

Macquarie hire signals push into European credit fund financing
Macquarie has signalled a push into credit fund financing in Europe by hiring a senior official involved in this activity 

Reg cap trades spawn a secondary market, but not as we know it
It’s small, and at its early stages, but a secondary market is emerging for risk transfer deals

Time-saving hedge fund platforms stop opportunities evaporating
Lengthy commitment periods and drawn-out negotiations between institutional investors and fund managers could be a thing of the past thanks to a wave of multi-manager hedge fund platforms

Creditflux parent rebrands as Acuris
Creditflux’s parent company gained a new name last month, with Mergermarket Group relaunching as Acuris

Fund platform AMX eyeballs credit funds
Willis Towers Watson’s hedge fund platform has grown to $1.5 billion – and there is space for credit managers  

Cheyne hires former BlueBay official Robertson to lead new credit unit
Cheyne is targeting below investment grade credit and has hired the former global head of leveraged finance at BlueBay to lead a newly-assembled team of three

Axa IM global loan fund tops €1 billion in AUM
Axa Investment Managers has announced that its Axa IM Loan Fund has hit €1 billion in size.

SEB appoints head of loan syndication in London
SEB has made another change to its loans divison

20-year Citi veteran earns promotion to head of European credit trading
Citi’s global head of distressed debt has been promoted to head of credit trading for Europe, the middle east and Africa, officials at the bank have confirmed