Californian pension fund looks to increase exposure to opportunistic credit
Merced Country Employees Retirement Association (MCERA) may increase its exposure to opportunistic credit, according to documents seen by Creditflux

BlueMountain appoints four portfolio managers
New York-based BlueMountain Capital Management has hired four portfolio managers to bolster its global governments and agency mortgages strategy 

BlackRock seeks $1 billion for new multi-strat opportunities fund
The new trust will invest at least 80% of its assets in fixed income securities and up to 40% in special situations, SEC filings reveal 

EM manager takes assets across two funds to $1.4 billion after big inflows
Two funds managed by a New York-headquartered firm have reached a combined $1.4 billion after big inflows

Lombard Odier mandates US manager for emerging markets debt fund
Swiss private bank Lombard Odier has selected a Los Angeles-based manager for a new emerging markets debt fund 

Investec AM adds investment specialist to EM debt team
Investec Asset Management has bolstered its emerging market fixed income team and appointed former Morgan Stanley emerging market analyst 

Allianz GI brings in new CIO for emerging market debt
Allianz Global Investors has appointed Richard House as chief investment officer emerging market debt, Creditflux understands

Swiss manager launches agriculture-focused impact debt fund
Zurich-based responsAbility Investments has launched its second open-ended private debt fund, which will invest in sustainable agriculture and development

First Trust teams with TCW to launch unconstrained credit ETF
First Trust Advisors will act as investment advisor to the new actively managed fund, while TCW Investment Management will act as sub-advisor

Singapore central bank looks to launch infrastructure-backed CLO
The new vehicle was announced by Ravi Menon, managing director at Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Nomura Investment Forum Asia 2018

Brazil development bank launches $1.5 billion infrastructure credit fund
Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) is launching a new Brazilian infrastructure credit fund with support from the Inter-American Development Bank

Aberdeen Standard extends reach into China with new bond fund
The news follows after the firm registered its wholly foreign-owned enterprise Aberdeen Standard Asset Management (Shanghai) at the end of last year

Indonesian property developers: cracks reopen as liquidity dries up
Indonesian developers didn’t fully recover from the 2013 taper tantrum. And now, as development costs and interest payments eat into their capital, they are looking far from stable

San Francisco pension fund to deploy up to $4.5 billion in private debt
The City and County of San Francisco Employee’s Retirement System has revealed details of its new private debt pacing plan - which will see it deploy up to $4.5 billion and partner with up to 25 private debt managers over the next six years

Destra and BlueBay team up to launch credit interval fund
Destra has become the latest manager to launch an interval fund - Destra International & Event-Driven Credit Fund - which will focus on two strategies: multi-strategy international credit  and event driven credit. 

Marathon EM fund picks up the pace with at least $58 million of inflows
Marathon Emerging Markets Bond Fund, a long-only investment fund focused on liquid assets in the global emering market, has raised at least $155 million, SEC filings show

Pictet appoints head of emerging maket debt following resignation
Pictet Asset Management has appointed Mary-Therese Barton as head of emerging market debt following the resignation of Simon Lue-Long, Pictet’s former head of EM debt. 

CarVal closes fourth distressed credit fund at $3 billion hard cap
Minneapolis-based CarVal Investors has held a final close for its fourth credit value fund – CVI Credit Value Fund IV (CVF IV), hitting its hard cap with $3 billion capital commitments

Minneapolis manager launches Asian credit fund
Global alternative investment firm Varde Partners is launching an Asian credit fund, SEC filings reveal

UK funds brace themselves against value-for-money ruling
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its final set of fund governance rules that aim to strengthen the duty of authorised fund managers to their investors.

Private debt impact funds demonstrate their value in emerging markets
Private debt is becoming an important channel for impact investing with over a third of impact investing AUM tied to private debt, according to a new survey

BRF avoids butcher’s block – for now
While Brazilian meat exporters appear to have survived claims of widespread malpractice throughout the country, the future of the world’s largest poultry producer still hangs in the balance
 

Investec AM hires emerging market debt PM from Standard Life
London-headquartered Investec Asset Management has hired emerging market debt specialist Imran Ahmad as portfolio manager within its multi-asset investment team

Fulcrum launches new multi-strat fund with daily liquidity
Fulcrum Asset Management has launched TM Fulcrum Diversified Liquid Alternatives Fund, which will invest across real assets, alternative credit and diversifiers

Pictet launches Asian corporate bond fund
Geneva-headquartered Pictet Asset Management has launched a Ucits-compliant Asian corporate bonds fund