US pension replaces Cliffwater with Meketa
Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has selected Meketa as a consultant to oversee its opportunistic investments, which consists of direct lending and opportunistic credit investments, along with investments in hedge funds and real assets.  

US pensions funds allocate to Lone Star and Raven credit strategies
Two US-based pension schemes have invested in funds with exposure to credit, highlighting the appetite of institutional investors towards off-the-run asset classes.

Los Angeles pension fund narrows down global direct lending search to four managers
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (Lacers) has listed the finalists for a private credit mandate, according to an agenda document seen by Creditflux.  

PE hold periods have shrunk but fast acquisitions can lead to botched integrations
Buyout multiples are likely to stay high – but moving fast and specialising can help firms make money

New kids on the block dominate awards

Ohio pension backs GSO's upcoming European direct lending fund
Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) has approved a $50 million commitment to GSO European Debt Fund II

Goldman Merchant Bank secures $4.4 billion senior debt capital to deploy
Goldman Sachs merchant banking division has closed its latest senior direct lending fund, Broad Street Senior Credit Partners II

Northleaf adds newly-created business development role in London
The new hire will lead the Toronto-based firm's business development and investor relations activities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Spire wins Creditflux Manager of the Year award
Spire Partners was the big winner at Creditflux's Manager Awards last night as the London-based manager scooped the award for the manager of the year. On top of this, the firm picked up awards for Best European CLO Manager and Best European CLO for Aurium CLO II

Prospect's $500 million CLO fund merges with Stira Alcentra global credit fund
Prospect Capital Management’s $500 million closed-end CLO fund has officially merged with a global credit fund managed by Alcentra and Stira

US pension fund to commit $1.1 billion in private credit by 2020
Investment consultant NEPC has recommended that Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) commit $550 million in private credit in both 2019 and 2020, according to a private credit review  

BNP Paribas Wealth appoints head of private equity and private debt investments
The appointment supports what the firm sees as "a significant pick up in clients’ appetite" for the asset classes

The Last Tranche: awards season is upon us [podcast]
A look at 2018 award offerings and finalist, plus some insight on direct lending and b-wics

Jefferies subsidiary and Stonyrock plan mid-market alternative manager stake acquisitions
The new joint venture will invest in private equity, credit, hedge funds, real estate, venture, and infrastructure firms

Maryland pension carves out private debt bucket
The Baltimore pension fund has also mandated a total of $25 million to one direct lending fund and one distressed debt fund 

Korean institution hunts for direct lending managers
Korea Post has launched a request for proposals in which it seeks out two managers to invest a total of $200 million into global direct lending loans  

Northleaf appoints private credit officials in Chicago, London and Toronto
Northleaf Capital Partners has expanded its private credit team with three hires - including an ex-Barclays head of international corporate credit

Direct lending challenges in 2019: competition, lack of quality assets and high transaction multiples
Results from Proskauer Rose's survey show these are not putting off 75% of respondents, who are fundraising for a debt fund

Direct lenders split over best way to manage loan restructuring
Direct lenders are divided on how best to set up internally when dealing with loans that require restructuring. Some managers argue that a deal should be restructured via the original deal team

CVC, Octagon and Spire vie for multiple Creditflux awards
Creditflux is pleased to unveil the finalists for the most prestigious awards dinner in the credit

Points Up Front: The best opportunities are way, way over there
Competition was a big theme at last month’s Creditflux European Direct Lending conference. The market has evolved to the point where new entrants are on the fundraising trail, which could lead to a compression in any illiquidity premium prevalent in direct lending loans

Bubble-watchers cite the popularity of leveraged lending as evidence against it
Growth in direct lending has been strong — but the sector is tiny compared to equities or bonds 

Credit funds at a glance

A round-up of fundraising and people moves in credit

Finding the best managers, CLOs and direct lenders

BlackRock names global alternatives head amid senior leadership shake-up
BlackRock has reshuffled its leadership and made several senior changes across various parts of its business, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux