Ares appoints head of Australia
Ares Management has hired an ex-Macquarie Group official to lead Ares Australia Management, the newly created joint venture between Ares and Sydney-based Fidante Partners

BDCs feel squeeze on liquidity as SEC rejects plea for relief
Sources say that the chances of relief being granted to business development companies over the acquired fund fees and expenses (AFFE) rule are slim. Last month, industry body Coalition for Business Development stated optimistically that the “harm caused by the AFFE disclosure can be remedied in the final fund of funds rules”.

Pemberton adds managing director and head of Spain
Pemberton, a direct lender, has added a hire from Royal Bank of Scotland to lead Spain investments 

Private credit funds could find better buying opportunities this year, says NEPC
Institutional investors looking to allocate to private credit in 2020 should focus on distressed debt, opportunistic credit and niche lending, according to investment consultant NEPC, with 2019 vintage funds potentially seeing “better buying opportunities” despite valuations being at cyclical highs

Apollo Global Management ends year with a bang
CLOs returned 8% while direct origination continues to be "rocket fuel", the company said

Yielco collects €675 million across two private debt fund of fund strategies
The Munich-based firm held a final close on its inaugural private debt fund of funds strategy and has also won a separate prive debt mandate

Carlyle appoints regional head of credit opps fund
Carlyle Group has hired a managing director to serve as North American head of its credit opps fund

TPG in talks to split from credit arm TSSP - media reports
Private equity firm TPG is in talks to split with its credit arm TPG Sixth Street Partners, according to media reports, with TPG considering looking to launch and build out its own internal credit platform

Investors preferred real asset debt to corporate private debt in 2019, finds Bfinance
Bfinance stated that, in dollar terms, real asset debt searches conducted by investors outweighed corporate private debt searches in 2019

New York pension allocates $100 million to US direct lending fund
New York State Teachers Common has awarded $100 million to a direct lending fund, as its private debt portfolio delivers 10.7% net IRR 

Louisiana pension earmarks $30 million for US private credit
This isn’t a first time relationship for the $1.8 billion pension fund, who previously granted  $50 million to the manager's previous fund in October 2018

Amundi joins forces with French bank to launch midcap loan fund
Amundi has partnered with French bank LCL to launch a mid-cap direct lending fund - and the fund has collected €130 million on its first close, just over half its target size 

Ares' new Asian credit affiliate wins $400 million from New York pension
New York State Common Retirement Fund has committed $400 million to distressed and special situations investments in the Asia-Pacific region  

Banco Sabadell joins forces with Amundi
Banco Sabadell and Amundi have announced a long-term strategic partnership, in a bid to boost fund business in Spain  

Hamilton Lane shakes up European leadership
Private markets manager Hamilton Lane has promoted two of its personnel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as the $481 billion firm is looking to boost its growth efforts through the region

TCA liquidates credit hedge fund amid SEC accounting investigation
TCA Fund Management Group is liquidating and shutting down its main credit hedge fund TCA Global Credit Master Fund, according to media reports, after an investigation initiated by Securities and Exchange Commission over the group’s accounting practices

EQT undertakes strategic review of credit business
EQT has announced a review of its credit business with the firm appointing JP Morgan to evaluate its 'strategic options', according to the firm’s Q4 2019 report

Ares wins $750 million for direct lending SMA with another $100 million in the pipeline
Two US based pension schemes have recently backed or looked to commit to direct lending products managed by Ares Management, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

DC pension set to invest in private debt assets
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), a UK based pension scheme, is set to enable the members of its defined contribution (DC) section to get exposure to private markets assets, including private debt, from February

Morgan Stanley IM hires from Carlyle again as it makes direct lending "strategic priority"
The new hire rejoins former colleague Jeff Levin, who Morgan Stanley Investment Management added in February last year to establish a direct lending business as a "strategic priority"

TPG makes European direct lending hire from Investec
TPG Sixth Street Partners has bolstered its UK and European direct lending opportunities team with a hire from Investec 

Texas pension backs ICG credit fund
Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) committed $167 million to a fund managed by Intermediate Capital Group in January, according to documents seen by Creditflux.  

Ardian raises €3 billion direct lending fund as it makes space for stretch-seniors
Ardian has collected €3 billion from ‘over 90 investors’ on its fourth European direct lending fund, surpassing its original €2.5 billion target size

Pantheon joins forces with Kermony in France
Pantheon has announced an exclusive 'introducer relationship' in France with Kermony Capital today, which is set to introduce Pantheon’s private debt capabilities to French investors