Eaton Vance signals intention to raise new credit fund
Eaton Vance Management has filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC for a new opportunistic credit fund, Eaton Vance Income Opportunities Fund

It's confirmed: loans are not bonds in " victory for the flow of capital to American businesses"
You're a loan. No, nothing to do with lockdown and social distancing. It's actually a victory for the $1.2 trillion US loan market as a court ruling finds that loans are not securities in the long-running Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase case

Bankrupt Hertz runs out of gas with CLOs holding $245 million
CLOs hold $245 million of Hertz’ debt as the US-based car rental company drives into bankruptcy protection, with the coronavirus panedemic putting brakes on the Estero, Florida-headquartered's firm car rental operations

Akorn falls into bankruptcy with $321 million planted in CLOs
CLOs hold $321.3 million of specialty pharmaceutical company Akorn’s debt, according to the latest trustee reports from CLO-I, with the firm having filed for chapter 11 protection in the US District Court for the District of Delaware yesterday

Candian pension allocates $250 million to dislocation credit fund
Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (Imco) has allocated $250 million to a dislocation credit fund managed by Apollo Global Management

Fed announces first loan subscription date for talf
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced yesterday that the first loan subscription date for the term asset-backed securities loan facility will be 17 June and the first loan closing date will be 25 June

Leveraged loan spreads to widen to March levels, warn UBS strategists
US leveraged loan spreads could widen back to March levels of 825 basis points as default risk increases, according to strategists at UBS.

Assurant outsources investment management
Assurant has outsourced the management of its core investment portfolio to Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Voya Investment Management

CLOs hold $100 million of Intelsat debt as it files for bankruptcy
CLOs hold nearly $100 million of the debt of Intelsat, a Luxembourg-headquartered fixed satellite services provider, which filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia late last night

Louisiana pension commits $150 million to mezzanine and credit opportunities funds
Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana has awarded $150 million to two credit funds managed by Ares Management and Audax Group at its 7 May board meeting, a spokesperson for the pension has confirmed

Legacy CLO warehouses brought into scope of Fed's talf programme
The US Federal Reserve has published an updated term sheet and FAQ for its term asset-backed securities loan facility programme with amendments to allow a greater scope of CLOs as eligible collateral

Beneath the triple C: April showers send buckets overboard
Downgrade waves rocked the CLO market in April as Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded 135 corporate borrowers to triple C or below, from ratings above that level. The downgrades put CLOs in rough waters as $41.6 billion of such loans are prevalent in US CLOs while €5.64 are moored in European CLO portfolios – affecting 5.92% of the US market and 4.37% of the European market

A lot of CLO portfolios look similar and I’ve never been one to follow the herd
Zais's Vinnie Ingato takes our credit quiz

Sculptor doubles global credit exposure in master fund amid dislocation
Sculptor Capital Management has doubled its global credit exposure in its Master Fund during the covid-19 volatility, according to the firm’s Q1 earnings call

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Ares raises $3 billion special situations fund ahead of huge European direct lending launch
Ares Management has witnessed “accelerated fundraising” for its special situations fund, which it has closed at around $3 billion, according to the firm’s earnings calls. The firm also launched its fifth European direct lending fund this week, which Ares expects could be “the largest private comingled fund in its history”

Flex CLOs tap mass downgrades to fill big triple C buckets
CLO managers are being hampered by the sheer volume of corporate credit downgrades to triple C, leaving the small cluster of triple C-flex CLOs to capitalise

On-site due diligence rules pose fundraising challenge
Stipulations in some fund limited partner bylaws dictating strict due diligence could pose a challenge for asset managers, sources say

Past returns: Death by triple Cs? A step too far
15 months ago in Creditflux we reported that corporate credit downgrades, rather than defaults, were the biggest problem facing CLO portfolio managers

Points up front: Blame it on capitalism
You know it’s a tough month for returns when a hedge fund manager quotes Lenin and laments that capitalism and globalisation have failed to distribute wealth efficiently

Credit markets adjust to stay-at-home rules
Lockdown orders across the world have forced the loan and CLO markets to modernise certain industry practices at speed, leading to speculation that some of the emergency measures adopted could become permanent, according to market participants

Credit pickers need luck to avoid OC trap
We know what you’re thinking: is my CLO failing its OC test? The truth is, in all this volatility, it can be hard to keep track, unless your deal has high quality liquid loans

 

Credit hedge fund returns: March 2020 stats
Monthly performance across credit hedge funds

Fund performance: Index tranche investors make it work from home
March brought a drastic drop in return figures as covid-19 swept across the globe, as Orchard tops the Creditflux performance tables

Ucits at a glance: Long-short credit capitalises on coronavirus
Ucits funds were not spared from the crash in mid-March, but Pictet outperforms