Another EM portfolio manager leaves NNIP for William Blair
William Blair Investment Management has hired Johnny Chen as a portfolio manager in SIngapore, in what marks the latest defection from NN Investment Partners' emerging  market debt team to William Blair  

US pensions seek EM debt managers
Two Massachusetts based pension schemes have launched request for proposals (RFP) seeking to allocate approximately $29 million to emerging market debt managers.  

Texas pension pumps $300 million into Pimco fund
Texas Municipal Retirement System has earmarked up to $300 million to a credit fund managed by Pimco, according to board documents seen by Creditflux, building on a relationship established through a predecessor fund

Jupiter in talks to buy Merian for £370 million
Jupiter Fund Management is in talks to acquire Merian Global Investors for £370 million ($482 million), according to a joint statement by the firms

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

California pension looks to cut liquid credit allocations
Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association will likely cut back on liquid credit and completely remove hedge fund allocations in 2020.. But the pension is optimistic about core bonds – and may include it as a new asset class

Los Angeles pension shakes up EM and high yield debt portfolios
Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System has shortlisted four managers for its emerging market debt mandate, while looking for one-year contract extension with its US high yield income manager, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

Mizuho names raft of European fixed income hires
Mizuho has signalled a push to bolster its European fixed income business with the Japanese bank announcing a raft of hires including jobs in structured credit, emerging market credit and credit sales

European financials outperform corporates as coronavirus spreads
Financial CDS is outperforming corporate credit today, and Europe outperforming the US, as the market jumps wider on rising alarm at the spread of China’s novel coronavirus

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 

US pension looks to extend contract with EM debt manager
Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System is looking to finalise a one-year contract extension with a manager that has been handling EM debt investments since March 2014  

UK pension eyes managers as part of £1 billion-plus credit expansion
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is seeking investment managers for single credit asset class mandates,

Rude awakening for credit as US airstrike sends global shockwaves
It only took a day for the positive mood greeting financial markets in 2020 to turn nervous, with credit and equities faltering in early trading today after the US killed a top Iranian military official

UK pension fund looks for emerging market manager to oversee £900 million
Pension partnership LGPS Central has launched a request for proposals for emerging market bond managers to oversee £900 million ($1,186 million)

Ucits at a glance: Ucits continue to chart a steady course

Ucits at a glance: ucits continue to chart a steady course

US pension drops BlueBay from credit programme
Virginia Retirement System (VRS) has terminated BlueBay Asset Management from its credit strategies programme, according to a document seen by Creditflux  

Aegon appoints head of emerging markets debt
Aegon Asset Management has named Jeff Grills as head of emerging markets debt, according to an announcement by the firm

William Blair poaches emerging market debt debt team from NNIP
William Blair Investment Management has poached an emerging markets debt team from NN Investment Partners to launch a new EM debt unit

Mirabaud to launch emerging debt fund with fixed term
Mirabaud Asset Management has announced the setup of a new fixed maturity emerging markets debt strategy, available for euro-based investors  

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

Ucits at a glance
A round-up of ucits fund performance

Steinhoff CDS fails to (physically) deliver
A credit event auction for Steinhoff Europe revealed very little interest to physically settle CDS contracts, with only one request to buy and for just €8.4 million

Steinhoff CDS buyers set for low pay-out
A credit event auction to settle CDS referencing Steinhoff Europe has returned an initial market midpoint of 83.5, implying there will be a low pay-out of less than 17 cents for protection buyers on the defaulted retailer