Direct lending head says market is overheating
A 2018 outlook report by KKR suggests now’s the time to reduce exposure to direct lending. This comes as another part of KKR goes on a direct lending fundraising spree

Managers predict skill will win out
We asked managers to predict the year ahead across a range of credit strategies. Overall, they had a positive outlook. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

European direct lending may not be as European as it seems
In European direct lending, raising capital has become the easy part of a manager’s job. But deploying that capital is more difficult, says Diala Minott, a London-based partner at law firm Paul Hastings

Axa IM holds €1.1 billion final close on European infrastructure debt fund
Axa Investment Managers – Real Assets (AXA IM) held a final close on its co-mingled pan-European infrastructure debt fund at over €1.1 billion, a spokesperson has confirmed

Manchester's Tosca holds £237.6 million final close for second debt fund
Tosca Debt Capital has held a final close for its second debt fund, Tosca Debt Capital Fund II, at £237.6 million ($335.6 million) 

Former ICG credit head Kershaw takes advisory role at distressed debt firm
Dagmar Kent Kershaw, the former head of Intermediate Capital Group's credit fund businessin Europe and Australia, has landed an advisory role at a $7 billion distressed debt manager

Hayfin launches new PE fund strategy headed by former Aberdeen specialist
European credit platform Hayfin Capital Management has launched a new private equity funds strategy, Creditflux has learned

London direct lender rebrands following acquisition by Investec
Investec Bank has rebranded Amicus Commercial Finance as Investec Capital Solutions, following Investec’s acquisition of Amicus Commercial Finance in December

Pemberton moves into supply chain finance after hiring senior portfolio manager
London-based Pemberton has announced the expansion of its senior management team with the appointment of Phil Ashdown, formerly of Tungsten Corporation, as a partner

Bluebay poised to launch third European private debt fund
London-based Bluebay Asset Management is seeking to launch its third European private debt fund, according to media reports

TPG's Questa joins London-based direct lender as managing director
Stefano Questa, formerly managing director at TPG, has joined European credit platform Hayfin Capital 

European CLO pioneer Wallace set to leave Maltese bank
A loan portfolio manager – who was behind a pioneering European 2.0 CLO – has left MeDirect Bank

TPG hires to its direct lending team in London
The European direct originations platform of TPG Sixth Street Partners, TPG Speciality Lending Europe, has hired Taddeo Vender as director, according to LinkedIn

Carlyle's head of origination for credit earns promotion to partner
Carlyle Group has announced 58 senior promotions across all its global offices: eight to partner, 19 to managing director and 31 to principal/director

BNP Paribas adds experienced fund financing specialist to its Paris offices
BNP Paribas has hired an experienced professional to its fund financing team. The new recruit will cover loan funds

European loan specialist leaves Partners Group
A European corporate loan specialist, who covered both CLOs and direct lending funds, has parted company with Partners Group, a spokesperson for the company confirms

Searchlight and LionTree join forces on TMT investments
Searchight + LionTree = LightTree, a new partnership which will invest across debt and equity in the TMT space

Rothschild's Yeates joins Investcorp to head European credit funds business
Credit veteran Phil Yeates has joined Investcorp Credit Management as a managing director and head of its European credit funds business, according to an announcement this morning

LGIM hires three to private credit team
Legal and General Investment Management Real Assets (LGIM) has announced three senior hires to its private credit business 

French direct lender closes real estate debt fund below target
French direct lending specialist Zencap Asset Management has closed its second real estate debt fund on €245 million

KKR raises $2.24 billion for second private credit opportunities fund
Global investment firm KKR has announced the final close of its second private credit opportunities fund, KKR Private Credit Opportunities II, at $2.24 billion

Former Octopus credit manager inks deal to join bridging lender
London bridging lender Octane Capital has hired Graham Macaulay from Octopus Property

UK manager hires two to lead British Business Bank-sponsored debt funds
UK-based Maven Capital Partners has announced the appointment of Steve Lewis and Jonathan Lowe as investment directors to lead two debt fund teams

European direct lending up 34% in recent quarter: Deloitte report
Direct lending in Europe continues to boom, according to the latest Deloitte deal tracker, which found a 34% growth of direct lending deals in third quarter 2017 alone compared to third quarter 2016