The right moment to take a chance
Stephen Ketchum founded Sound Point during the global financial crisis with seed funding of USD 35m. He moved into CLOs in 2012. Today, the firm has many arms and AUM of USD 46bn

Direct lending: a history of resilience
They said defaults would get it, then redemptions, then fraud, AI and redemptions (again!). But direct lending has been with us for over a decade — and it keeps proving its staying power

US private credit eyes return of contrarians
Retail investors may have retreated from private credit, but attendees at Debtwire’s Private Credit Forum New York say some institutional investors are now pivoting back to the sector

European outlook is rosy, say direct lenders
Attendees at Debtwire’s Private Credit Forum Europe 2026 argued that, despite pockets of distress, demand for private capital is high and the sector’s record shows it is resilient

Europe sees new 1Q direct lending record
Despite exposure to software companies and worries about fund redemptions, European direct lenders made a strong start to 2026 — and the market is optimistic about the rest of the year

US direct lending holds steady in 1Q
Fears about AI-impacted software companies took their toll on US direct lenders in the first quarter, yet overall market volume remained resilient as other sectors took up the slack

All systems go as Fortress embarks on European dream
Fortress has long been planning its European expansion. Now it’s hiring and upsizing in London

Direct lending braces for redrawn landscape
After a stellar 2025, direct lenders are coming under pressure. Large-cap financings are colliding with record tight spreads in public markets, while competition is rising in mid-market lending

Direct lending poised to break records but...
Although the volume of direct lending is burgeoning and likely to set a full year record in 2025, questions are growing about lending standards and the sector’s impact on financial stability

Can funds find pots of gold in Europe?
For years, US private credit has been tapping high net worth individuals. Now funds are trying to do the same in Europe — but markets across the pond are fragmented and heavily regulated

How direct lending took off in Europe
In the second of our two-part history, we look at the evolution of direct lending in the UK, the sector’s expansion to other parts of Europe, and its growth into a dominant asset class

How direct lending took off in Europe
In the first of a two-part history, we look at direct lending’s origins in US junk bonds, its leap across the Atlantic and the rise of the huge firms that now dominate the European industry

Private lenders fund record mega-loan for Clearlake
A large group of private credit firms clubbed together to raise the USD 5bn Clearlake Capital needed for its acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet. But is this huge deal a sign of things to come?

2023: a bumper year for CLO funds
It looks like 2023 will finish as a solid year for most credit funds, and an outstanding one for CLO funds. But funds pursuing corporate distressed strategies continued to struggle

Primary market roars into life
The primary CLO market pickup that started in August continued strongly in September, both in Europe and the US. Although the overall direction was the same on both sides of the Atlantic, the type of activity was quite different.

Making chances
From co-investments to stakes in junior capital and distressed credit, delegates at the Debtwire Private Credit Forum heard the sector offers a range of opportunities, even with deal-flow down

Arcmont and Barings land direct lending doubles
Readers with long memories may recall that Creditflux used to award a handful of prizes for direct lending funds at the Manager Awards. But this year those gongs were spun out into their own glittering gala.

Fund performance
A roundup of fund performance

CLO funds make best of a bad situation
It can’t get any worse can it? Well, it did in 2022, when credit spreads kept moving wider. Still, CLO funds were able to withstand the pressure, and they outperformed other credit strategies

Managers vie for trophies at new-look awards event
The 2020 Creditflux Manager Awards will take on a fresh complexion as we transition to a virtual event. But some things will never change: our finalists have been assessed using data alone
 

Credit hedge fund returns: March 2020 stats
Monthly performance across credit hedge funds

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

Ucits at a glance: Long-short credit capitalises on coronavirus
Ucits funds were not spared from the crash in mid-March, but Pictet outperforms

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

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