Fund performance: Index tranche investors make it work from home
March brought a drastic drop in return figures as covid-19 swept across the globe, as Orchard tops the Creditflux performance tables

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

Florida pension allocates $600 million to three credit managers
Florida State Board of Administration has awarded $600 million to three credit managers in the first quarter, according to a board update seen by Creditflux

Asian direct lender promotes marketing official to CIO as co-founder takes new role
Adamas Asset Management has promoted its head of global marketing and investor relations, Brock Silvers, to chief investment officer

Credit Rendezvous: recovery begins, but is it U, V or even W?
Investing in credit is not as easy as ABC. The coronavirus crisis has crushed valuations and although most assets will eventually pull to par, no one is sure how the recovery will pan out

Metrics pulls plug on direct lending fundraising
Australian direct lender Metrics Credit Partners has pulled the plug on fundraising for its listed private debt fund

Mercer puts private debt at heart of $2.7 billion fund of fund
Mercer has held a final close at $2.7 billion for a private markets fund that offers investors access to private debt and sustainable products  

Credit Rendezvous: the outlook in 2020 across a dozen segments of the credit market
Welcome to the Credit Rendezvous, the first instalment of a regular feature published by Creditflux that tracks credit market dynamics in a dozen segments from investment grade, liquid loans, CLOs and CSOs all the way through to distressed debt. We view this as the meeting point for credit specialists across strategies to share their perspectives

Canadian pension launches $300 million private credit platform to invest in India
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the CAD 326.7 billion Canadian pension, has rolled out a $300 million private credit platform in partnership with Pirmal Asset Management to focus on private credit opportunities in India

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

Points up front: “Thanks for the loan.” “What loan?”
Direct lending sounds simple enough; borrowers have direct engagement with a small set of lenders and negotiate a private agreement for the long-haul. Sounds easy enough, except when the lender claims to have no idea about the deal you’ve just announced.

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  

Ares buys majority stake in Asian credit manager SSG
Ares has bought a majority, controlling interest in SSG Capital Management, an Asian alternative asset manager focused on private credit and special situations 

ResponsAbility collects $151 million for impact private debt securitisation fund
Facebook, the European Investment Bank and the government of Luxembourg are just some of the investment sources for the $151 million clean energy impact debt fund. The fund is structured in a similar way to a CLO – with responsAbility offering investors various risk tranches 

Pimco launches listed multi-sector global credit fund
Known as Pimco Tactical Income Fund, the fund will invest in a range of global credit strategies and will list on the New York Stock Exchange

BlueBay adds senior portfolio manager as it targets EM fund launches
BlueBay Asset Management has hired for a newly created senior portfolio manager job 

EFA holds first close on Asian private credit fund
EFA Group has held a first close on its Asian private credit fund, according to an announcement by the firm

Värde launches $2.5 billion global credit fund
Värde Partners has raised $2.47 billion for a new global credit fund, according to an announcement today

SSG collects $2.7 billion for Asian special situations fund
SSG Capital Management has raised $2.7 billion for its fifth Asia Pacific-focused credit and special situations strategy, SSG Capital Partners V, surpassing the strategy's original $1.5 billion target size

UK pension partnership launches maiden private credit offering at £581 million
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) is set to commit £581 million in private credit, as part of its maiden offering in this asset class  

45% of insurers look to increase private debt allocations, finds Natixis IM survey
Private debt allocations are expected to grow for 45% of insurers over the next three years, according to a recent survey by Natixis Investment Management. But regulation and internal restrictions are the biggest challenges to greater adoption of private markets allocation

Arizona pension to deploy up to $700 million a year in private credit
Arizona Public Safety Employee System is looking to deploy $600-700 million in private credit strategies per year in order to meet its target allocation, according to board documents seen by Creditflux.

Weil brings in direct lending specialist from Kirkland & Ellis in Hong Kong
He primarily advises direct lending funds and borrowers on cross-border leveraged and acquisition finance transactions

Emerging markets specialist Albright sells minority stake to Goodhart
Goodhart Partners has purchased a minority stake in Washington DC-based Albright Capital Management, which is an emerging market debt manager, according to an announcement today

Ares spots growth in Australia and forms distribution JV with Fidante
Ares has teamed up with Fidante Partners to boost its distribution capabilities in Australia and New Zealand across its credit, private equity and real estate strategies