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

UBS unveils combined leveraged debt capital markets group structure
The new business will be led by Brendan Connolly, according to an internal memo 

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

Leveraged loans pose credit risk but not systemic risk, conference told
Regulators and the press need to understand the difference between credit risk and systemic risk, claimed panelists at the IMN European CLOs and Leveraged Loans conference

New manager Resco lands ex-credit head to found advisory board
Resco Asset Management, a London based asset manager set up last year, has appointed the first of an anticipated three advisory board members

Brookfield strikes deal to buy 62% stake in Oaktree
Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to buy a 62% stake in Oaktree Capital Management in a move which will lead to the creation of one of the largest asset managers in the business.

Regulation stifles SRTs, but banks and investors revel in quarter-four outperformance
Over the course of 2018 there was roughly €6.5 billion of issuance in the market for significant risk transfer (SRT) deals, sources say, with the last three months understood to be the busiest quarter on record

Demonised triple Bs could outshine angelic neighbours
There has been a stampede to denounce triple B corporate credit, but investors ditching this rating band may not only miss solid returns but find bigger problems up the spectrum, investors and analysts tell Creditflux.

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 

Behave yourselves: EBA policy advisor warns against misuse of securitisation rules
The European securitisation market has come a long way over the last decade, and the message from one policy advisor is clear – don’t do anything to mess it up.

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

Lazard appoints co-heads of sustainable investment and ESG
Lazard Asset Management has appointed co-heads of sustainable investment and ESG across both sides of the Atlantic 

Värde names co-deputy CIO and two partners
Värde Partners has announced the promotion of its global head of private debt, transportation and energy to deputy chief investment officer 

US regulation drives insurance money towards credit ETFs
Institutional investors are increasingly allocating to credit exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but their motivations are changing. These vehicles are famed for their liquidity, but several investors are said to be pouring money into them for the long term amid regulatory changes which have made ETF investments more favourable

Derivatives market jumps forward on Ibor fallbacks
The derivatives market has moved closer to a consensus on how to replace interbank offered rates (Ibors) in contracts, with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) finding that most market participants favour a retrospective rather than forward-looking approach for benchmark fallbacks

GSO co-founder plans new credit business
GSO Capital Partners co-founder Tripp Smith is launching his own credit management firm, according to a report by Bloomberg

Cairn sheds light on single-investment SRT fund
Fresh details have emerged on Cairn Capital’s new significant risk transfer (SRT) funds with the manager informing Creditflux that Pathfinder Fund III was structured such with US requirements in mind

Cairn adds two SRT funds to its roster
Cairn Capital has raised $150 million across two significant risk transfer (SRT) funds - with differing mandates - according to an announcement by the firm

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

Market favours retrospective over forward-looking approach to Ibor benchmark fallbacks, says Isda
New benchmark fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference interbank offered rates are likely to be based on the “compounded setting in arrears rate” and the “historical mean/median approach to the spread adjustment”, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has said

Credit sell-off has room to run and pricing is out of whack, says BNP Paribas
The credit market sell-off could have further to go despite recent widening and is “in the process of a late-stage business cycle unwind”, according to a strategist note seen by Creditflux

24 CLO managers hold J Crew loan as it drops 4.62%
A total of 109 CLOs hold $219.4 million exposure to J Crew, whose Term Loan B traded down 4.62% from yesterday 

Machines connect as credit managers’ new best friends
The clamour for credit funds that adhere to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria means the managers behind these funds are handling ever-larger and deeper data sets. This has led a growing number of fund managers to divert resources into incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into their investment processes