Credit Rendezvous: Make yourself comfortable, there’s a storm coming
In our Q1 outlook, we speak to Edwin Wilches, PGIM (US CLOs), Mikkel Sckerl and Flemming Dose, Capital Four (European CLOs),  Jim Fitzpatrick, CQS (US loans), Loic Prevot, Polus (European loans), Madelaine Jones, Oaktree (global high yield), Art Penn, Pennant Park (US direct lending), Mattis Poetter, Arcmont (European direct lending), Keerthi Raghavan, Waterfall (structured credit), Ray Costa, Benefit Street (distressed), Grant Webster, Ninety One (Emerging markets), Oumar Diallo, Aeon (real assets) for their views for the upcoming quarter. 

Fund performance: Credit funds end difficult 2022 on a positive note
In December 66% of credit funds reached a positive return, following an even better November where 81% of all funds pushed into the black

Credit hedge fund returns (February 2023)
Credit hedge fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (February 2023)
A round up of people moves and fundraising

"All that remains is to thank all of you who have kept faith with my monthly confessions of insanity"
With the economic outlook now beyond a joke, Welshcake signs off amid denials he is actually a Welsh footballer  

BC Credit targets $1.25 billion for third opportunistic credit fund
BC Partners Credit plans to deploy half the fund in private lending and structured equity opportunities and the other half in specialty lending and dislocated liquid credit deals

MUFG appoints co-heads Emea capital markets
MUFG has appointed co-heads of capital markets for Emea

European credit specialist rejoins Allspring
An experienced European loan and high yield specialist has returned to Allspring Global Investments after a spell at Western Asset Management

Bain hires managing director in Euro liquid credit strategies team
In his role, he will be helping to lead investments and the development of the liquid and structured credit team

Beneath the triple C: Life could be better, but it’s just a letter, under the CCC
Many market participants were eagerly looking forward to a break in December after a gruelling year, but the rating agencies were in no mood to oblige. 

Senior Investcorp official lands at wealth manager
A well-known name in the CLO industry has landed at a wealth management firm 

CVC plots further quasi-CLOs after landmark €400 million deal
CVC Credit closed a CLO-like’ vehicle backed by senior secured loans in December. Officials at the firm say they are in early stage discussions to launch similar vehicles after interest from equity investors"  

Fund performance: Light at the end of the tunnel for credit funds after difficult year
Following a tough September, credit funds bounced back in October as 59% of funds made positive returns.

Credit hedge fund returns (December 2023)
Credit hedge fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (December 2023)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit

"This ‘higher rates for longer’ saga is more like the 1920-21 depression than the 1970s high inflation era"
Sometimes you have to swallow your medicine and take a step back to go forwards

LP round up: 27 managers find the top corner with investor wins
Credit fund managers like to take it one fund at a time and give it 110% for their 90-minute investor fund pitches - and it's working as $3.8 billion was allocated during November and early December. The gaffer would be proud. 

AlbaCore eyes reinvestment as it closes €2.4 billion private credit fund
AlbaCore Capital has held a final closed on a fund that specialises in private European credit investments

Manager looks to cut HY exposures in CLO-heavy credit interval fund
A credit fund manager has provided a performance update on is multi-strategy closed-end credit fund through regulatory filings, revealing it has beat its benchmark from 1 April to 30 September despite losing 13.66%

Sculptor and Och reconcile as sale process kicks off
Sculptor Capital Management is looking for a buyer after forming a special committee and building bridges with its founder Daniel Och

BayernLB reveals two investors behind breakthrough €1bn SRT
Bayerische Landesbank says it has produced its first simple, transparent and standardised (STS) transaction in the form of a €1 billion SRT

European CLO managers trade loans to avoid (par) burn
Between March and July, European CLO managers traded €21 billion of assets within CLOs that were still in their reinvestment period as opportunities arose amid a weaker macro environment and Russia’s war with Ukraine

Fitch raises European default rate assumptions with loans in tougher spot than bonds
Analysts at Fitch Ratings have raised their base-case leveraged loan default rate for end-2023 in Europe to 4.5% from 3.5%, and their severe-case rate to 6%

Senior Oak Hill trader joins LedgerComm as it crafts loan settlement solution
A senior loan official has joined LedgerComm as the firm aims to provide loan market participants with better data 

Credit Suisse to streamline European CLO manager client list
Credit Suisse is unlikely to be among the heavyweights in European CLO origination with market sources indicating that the bank is reducing its CLO manager client list