Leverage providers focus on direct lending eligibility rules
Banks will have to re-examine eligibility criteria for leverage facilities extended to direct lenders, according to market sources.

Points up front: Despite the fees, European SME CLOs are the future
Producing the first post-crisis securitisation of small and mid-sized European loans was a monumental effort for Be-Spoke Capital.

SME CLO features PDL mechanism
Details of the groundbreaking Alhambra SME Funding 2019-1 — the first 2.0 CLO backed by loans to small and midsized enterprises — were revealed at the Direct Lending Forum jointly hosted by Creditflux and Debtwire last month.

Managed accounts pose flexibility check for direct lenders
Direct lenders are closely analysing portfolio companies hit by coronavirus volatility for signs of financial stress, ready to inject capital and extend flexibility to companies where needed.

We’ve got time to work this out
You might think direct lenders are very exposed to economic downturns. But at the Creditflux-Debtwire event last month, managers said they felt they had a few months to rectify problems

Credit funds at a glance

A round-up of fundraising and people moves in credit

Ucits at a glance: Long-short approach lifts Pictet to the top

Fund perfomance: Slowdown for some as pandemic takes hold

Private credit managers re-examine docs in new fundraising approach
Private credit managers are facing numerous challenges and those looking to fundraise have had to change the way they approach the process, including documentation, according to a note from DLA Piper

Managers get creative as private credit fundraising set for Q2 dent
Private credit funds should expect a slowdown in fundraising as credit markets gyrate wildly and investors address issues in their public market strategies. But managers have been coming up with creative solutions to keep business flowing

CVC listed credit fund 'pre-emptively' sheds covid-19 related positions
CVC Credit has taken a conservative approach to addressing covid-19 volatility in its listed opportunistic credit fund, with the fund divesting several credit positions to manage risk 

Asset manager takes new approach with special sits fund as co-head leaves
A large global asset manager is looking to allocate to junior debt in performing comapnies after parting ways with the co-head of its special situations business

Alcentra prepares listed credit fund
BNY Mellon Investment Advisor has teamed up with affiliate Alcentra to launch a listed fund that can invest across a range of credit strategies

BlackRock hires former KKR official to head European private capital markets
A leveraged finance veteran has joined BlackRock as European head of the firm’s private capital markets business in London, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

Direct lenders face ebitda-add back language challenges as borrowers seek flexibility

Direct Lending Perspectives underlines record-breaking 2019 issuance
European direct lending volumes hit €18.2 billion in a record-breaking 2019, according to the European Direct Lending Perspectives report by Creditflux and Debtwire

Coronavirus dampens fundraising but unlocks opportunities, say direct lending event attendees
Direct lenders could see ample opportunity for capital deployment as volatility takes hold of the term loan B and high yield markets amid Coronavirus uncertainty - and fund investors should not hold off from committing any capital 

European mid market CLO suffers blip as borrower misses interest payment
Alhambra SME Funding 2019-1 – the first middle market European CLO since the financial crisis – has suffered a setback with one of its portfolio companies missing an interest payment last month

Goldman Sachs in talks to buy minority stake in Permira
Goldman Sachs is looking to buy a minority stake in private equity firm Permira

Dispersion tests hedge fund managers

PE firms look to go it alone as credit units reach maturity
Private equity firms are starting to weigh up the merits of housing private debt businesses, with TPG Capital the latest to contemplate splitting with its credit business TPG Sixth Street. It follows EQT Capital, which announced a strategic review in January centred on parting ways with its credit unit.

They said it: "How about a carbon reduction covenant?"
In a social media post, Bfinance’s Trevor Castledine recalls a conversation with a private debt manager who claimed to be powerless when it comes to influencing borrowers over ESG. The lender’s response was: “Er…”

Points up front: Credit picking follows on from investor picking
Credit picking skills will be important this year amid heightened idiosyncratic risk, so everyone seems to say. But Ares Management, one of the biggest names in direct lending, has demonstrated that asset managers can also be picky with the mandates they take on, when the firm walked away from a private debt mandate with London CIV in January.

Real assets are now the top picks in private credit
Direct lending is no longer the darling of the private credit market, with pension funds increasingly making space for credit strategies backed by real assets.

Credit funds at a glance
A round-up of fundraising and people moves in credit