Kartesia fills vacancy in DACH with key hire from Bayside
Kartesia has hired Guiseppe Mirante as its head of credit opportunities for DACH, according to an announcement today

Beechbrook completes £128 million first close for UK direct lending fund
The manager's second UK-focused sponsorless fund has gained the attention of British Business Bank 

Key figure in HPS's direct lending team parts ways with the firm
HPS Investment Partners has lost a senior member of its direct lending team in Europe

Texas pension commits $200 million to credit
Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS) has earmarked $200 million for investments in strategic credit and direct lending in 2019, according to board documents seen by Creditflux  

Private credit delivers strong returns for Finnish pension
Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER) has generated 12.4% from its private credit funds for 2018, according to its latest annual report  

Alantra holds interim close for second debt fund
The Spanish direct lender has also increased its target size for the strategy to a €175 million

Alaska pension commits $545 million to seven credit funds
Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has earmarked $545 million to funds across the credit spectrum across Q2, according to 27 February board documentation

Illiquid credit boost returns for PensionDanmark
PensionDanmark has generated 5.8% returns from its illiquid credit portfolio for the year 2018, according to its latest annual report published today. But its liquid credit portfolio took a 3.4% hit

Apera closes inaugural private debt fund at €750 million
The fund surpasses its original €650 million target size

GSO plans follow-up European direct lending fund
GSO Capital Partners is putting together a senior debt fund and has the backing of Taiwan Life

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 

Schroders appoints global head of private assets division
Schroders has made a hire for its newly created job of global head of private assets, which includes private equity, infrastructure finance, real estate investments and direct lending  

Italian journo pension scheme presses ahead with plan to invest in private debt
The National Institute for Italian Journalists' Social Security (INPGI) has launched a tender notice seeking closed-ended private debt funds to invest in, or unlisted debt instruments including infrastructure debt, private corporate debt and real estate debt  

Tikehau garners €2.1 billion for European direct lending strategy
Tikehau Investment Management has collected €2.1 billion for its fourth private debt strategy - three times larger than its predecessor fund 

Allianz IM puts $200 million into Indian private debt
Allianz Investment Management has committed $200 million into the private debt platform of Edelweiss, an Indian diversified financial services firm.  

BlueBay closes fourth direct lending fund at €6 billion
BlueBay Asset Management has held a final close for its fourth private debt fund with over €6 billion of investable capital

HPS targets $8 billion for flagship mezzanine strategy
HPS Mezzanine Partners 2019, the firm's fourth fund in its mezzanine strategy, has won $100 million from a Louisiana pension fund 

It’s going to be a credit picker’s market
Our panel of experts believe that the credit market will be volatile this year, but there will be opportunities in European credit and additional tier one bonds, trups CDOs and unitranches

Creditflux and Debtwire launch European direct lending report
Creditflux is joining forces with Acuris stablemate Debtwire to launch its first European direct lending publication

Pemberton appoints head of Benelux and opens Amsterdam office
Pemberton Capital Advisors has expanded its presence in mainland Europe with the opening of an office in Amsterdam

Kreos exceeds €600 million target size for its largest direct lending fund to date
Kreos Capital has held a final close for its sixth European growth debt fund at €700 million

MV and EQ combine for €70 million for private credit fund
EQ Asset Management has raised €70 million for its second private credit fund in partnership with MV Credit, the fund of fund operator has announced

Italian foundation seeks new CIO to oversee pension pot
Rome-based foundation Fondazione Enasarco is searching for a new chief investment officer, following the departure of Robert Rausch  

Performing credit tops distressed credit for Blackstone, but credit AUM declines
The firm is looking to boost its direct lending business to gain $10 billion of available capital over the next couple of years