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

LSTA's Coffey floats five-point plan for Libor replacements
"Unlike Brexit, a benchmark is definitely going to happen", the audience at the IMN European CLO and Leveraged Loan conference heard 

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

Debut manager touts non-ethical CLO
“We are looking at this as a sort of Darth Vader of CLOs,” says the firm's portfolio manager

Mariner founding member rejoins firm as CEO
Mariner Investment Group has appointed founding member Curtis Arledge as its chief executive officer and chairman

US CLO managers look to scale flat WALs in search of flexibility
The anticipation of a downturn in the credit cycle has made investors turn their attention toward document provisions that give CLO managers flexibility

Investcorp hires ex-Medley structured credit head as John Fraser retires
Investcorp has appointed a CLO specialist as co-head of US credit, following the retirement of the firm’s previous sole US credit head

Industry veteran joins B Riley's new credit unit to manage CDOs
B. Riley Capital Management has established a new credit platform 

Credit manager Post unveils new leadership structure
The reshuffle follows the departure of Post Advisory's chief investment officer   

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.

Antares Capital's Brackett becomes sole CEO after Martin departure
Antares Capital founding partner David Brackett will become sole chief executive officer of the $24 billion firm

Affinion skipped interest payment impacts small number of CLOs
Only two CLO managers could be affected by the debt of Affinion Group, who skipped its scheduled 19 Feb interest payment ($22.2 million) to its first-lien 2022 term loan holders 

Portfolio financiers thrive as private equity funds fret
Funds that lend to private equity vehicles showed their worth in the fourth quarter as valuations across credit and equity took a hit

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.

Loans recover slightly after late-2018 havoc
Secondary loan prices have ticked higher this year, although they are still some way off the levels reached before the fourth quarter slump. However, M&As are starting to fill the new issue pipeline
 

Just because there have always been loan fees doesn’t mean they are the right way of doing things
Scrapping loan transfer costs of up to €3,500 per transaction is a bridge Europe should cross for the sake of liquidity

Windstream set for high CDS pay-out as DC picks initial deliverable obligations
Windstream Holdings CDS protection holders look set for a high pay-out, as the cheapest deliverable obligations into the defaulted company’s credit event auction are quoted in the mid-20s

Loan sell-off leaves some CLO warehouses out of the money
The December sell-off in the loan market may have been good for CLO equity but it left many warehouses out of the money, according to several sources

CLOs are not like CDOs, says Barclays, but warns of loan quality impact
CLOs are far removed from the kinds of structured products that contributed to the 2008/09 global financial crisis, Barclays has argued in a wide-ranging research piece this week

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.

Podcast: Secondary loans rebound, CLOs widen and covenants deteriorate
Creditflux, Debtwire and Xtract discuss the current state of the market