Ares holds €6.97 billion first close on European direct lending fund
Ares Management Group has collected $12 billion in gross credit commitments over the third quarter of the year, according to the firm’s earnings presentation, including $8.2 billion for the first closing of its fifth European direct lending fund

Alcentra hires Mulshine as head of US distribution
Alcentra has hired a new head of US distribution from Lazard

Credit Rendezvous: sometimes you have to dive deep to find value
Some parts of the credit market are fraught with danger, but that does not mean portfolio managers are avoiding them entirely, according to the Credit Rendezvous, Creditflux's 10-page quarterly report eaturing comments from 15 credit experts

[update] Beneath the triple C: theme parks take portfolios on downward ride
Seven corporate debt issuers were downgraded to triple C or below in September by Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s – hurting $2.16 billion of US CLO loans and €1.16 billion of European CLO portfolio. The pace of CLO loan downgrades to triple C has slowed steadily since the peak in April

CLO collateral managers who are able to update their documents could gain warf advantage
Moody’s is reviewing its approach to warf. Changes could boost managers’ ability to trade

Libor floors and Volcker tweak bode well for future of CLOs
It’s been a truly miserable year, but amid all the despair covered so tirelessly by the mainstream media has been an omission; namely, that CLOs have withstood the damage caused by the pandemic

CLO rally keeps primary market flowing for most prolific issuers
The rally in CLO liabilities in September has given fresh impetus to the primary CLO market, which has benefitted from almost six months of favourable market dynamics

Questions will need answering about where a manager's fiduciary responsibility lies
A university lecturer gives Welshcake a shock with a CLO presentation that points to shady trading games

Academic highlights 1.0 CLO inflationary and cross-trading practices
CLO managers during and after the 2008 financial crisis used discretion in reporting the fair value of defaulted assets or loans downgraded to triple C, and may have inflated these fair values, according to a research presentation at Creditflux’s CLO Symposium in September

Methodology tweaks could prove a boost for CLO warfs
Moody’s proposed CLO methodology changes could impact 8% of US and European CLO tranches positively, the rating agency says

Credit hedge funds (October 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris edge towards double digit returns
Two managers stand out in the Ucits rankings as they close in on 10% YTD figures

Credit funds at a glance (October 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Fund performance: A third of funds reach positive territory in 2020
August has been another successful month for the CLO category as seven of the top 10 funds invest primarily in CLOs

Credit fundraising: managers build homes for real estate credit funds
The “largest ever real estate credit fund” was one of the fundraising highlights last month as Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies IV fund reached $8 billion on its final close

Voya loan co-head Norman set to retire
Dan Norman is set to leave Voya Investment Management, where he co-heads the senior loan team, at the end of the year

CLO and loan trading head moves to development finance job
Mediobanca's loan and CLO trading head has moved to CDC Group, a development finance business owned by the UK government

CLOs hold €250 million of defaulted French events organiser Comexposium
CLOs hold €246.1 million of French events organiser Comexposium, which entered safeguard protection in the Commercial Court of Nanterre on Wednesday

LP round up: $5 billion flows to credit as private market allocations increase
Global institutional investors allocated nearly $5 billion to credit funds this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Barings and PGIM win loan and structured credit mandates as pension puts £2.7bn in credit
The firms will manage global syndicated loans, securitised credit, emerging market debt and global high yield credit for Border to Coast Pension Partnership's £2.7 billion ($3.43 billion) multi-asset credit fund 

Garrett Motion stalls with CLOs holding $608 million of bankrupt firm's debt
Garrett Motion enters chapter 11 proceedings with a stalking horse offer from private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, which has agreed to buy substantially all of the firm’s assets for around $2.1 billion. CLOs hold around $680 million of Garrett's term loans

Post hires head of sales and marketing in Los Angeles
Post Advisory Group has hired Eileen Mancera as managing director and head of sales and marketing

Blackstone reveals CLO originator NAV was understated for four months
Blackstone says the net asset value of class A units in its privately-offered CLO originator were understated between 31 March and 30 June

iQor files for chapter 11 with CLOs holding $260 millon
17 CLO managers hold $263.1 million term loans of customer services provider iQor, which filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas today

Head of loan and CLO trading leaves Mediobanca
Mediobanca’s head of loan and CLO trading has parted ways with the bank