Credit traders' kickstand: nervous equilibrium gives way to weakness as earnings and tariffs weigh
Healthy fund inflows, European and US holidays, and a thinning primary market helped sustain credit spreads this week, but a weaker turn today shows this is a fragile equilibrium and company earnings misses are starting to be punished more severely

Credit traders' kickstand: grave times for UK banks and corps as May goes away
UK banks have been among the main underperformers in credit this week, with market sources noting that today’s notice of Prime Minister Theresa May’s intention to resign on 7 June increases the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. And UK 'zombie' companies appear to be forming a herd

Credit traders' kickstand: widening catalysts gather force with focus on financials
Credit markets are once again ending the week on a negative tone, having regained some posture over previous sessions following last week’s tariff-driven sell-off. Credit index spreads appear inclined to trade within a range, but potential catalysts for that range to shift wider outweigh any obvious reasons to return to the tight prints of last month

Credit traders' kickstand: Trump gives Europe the ghoulies as single B spectres haunt CLOs
Trade tariff terrors and things that go triple C rated in the night are top of the list of items spooking credit market sentiment at the end of this week

Ice seeks consensus with credit risk analytics service
Intercontinental Exchange (Ice) has launched ICE Credit Risk, a suite of analytics it will provide in collaboration with financial risk assessment company Credit Benchmark

New manager Resco lands ex-credit head to found advisory board
Resco Asset Management, a London based asset manager set up last year, has appointed the first of an anticipated three advisory board members

Short resets take CDS indices wider at March roll
CDX and iTraxx credit derivative indices are rolling into new series today, with short position resets taking the incoming series 31 of the Europe main index wide of where series 30 closed yesterday

US and UK sound post-Brexit derivatives regulatory accord
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Bank of England have issued a joint statement assuring derivative market participants of continued access to trading and clearing after the UK’s exit from the European Union

CDS sell-off brings profit-taking opportunity for basis trade players
Profit-taking on basis trades between CDS and cash bonds has begun, with the strong run for credit markets since the start of the year having hit a bump yesterday

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider

Cash-CDS basis set for comeback after "falling knife" mishap, predicts BNP Paribas
The beginning of 2019 should revive interest among credit investors to trade the basis between cash bonds and credit default swaps, according to BNP Paribas strategists – following what they term “falling knife” dynamics in this year’s fourth quarter

Creditex obtains CFTC swap execution facility exemption
Creditex, the electronic brokerage for corporate bonds and credit default swaps, has been granted an exemption from a requirement to register with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a swap execution facility

Credit sell-off has room to run and pricing is out of whack, says BNP Paribas
The credit market sell-off could have further to go despite recent widening and is “in the process of a late-stage business cycle unwind”, according to a strategist note seen by Creditflux

European CDS index tightens inside US even as bonds languish
Credit derivatives markets have hit a key point of trend reversal this week, with the iTraxx Europe five-year CDS index trading inside its US counterpart CDX IG for the first time since May

Market rout drives US/Europe credit convergence, as Brazil leads Latin widening
Credit spreads have sharply widened globally as financial markets are being rocked by concerns for a trade war and rising US rates. An equity-led rout in the US yesterday afternoon

BlackRock becomes latest manager to explore interval fund structure for credit
Several managers have hit the market with the interval fund structure, as investors look to invest in illiquid strategies through an illiquid fund structure

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 

Hermes launches £185 million unconstrained credit fund
London-based Hermes Investment Management has launched a new Ucits-compliant unconstrained credit fund - which will include pricing ESG risks

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. 

79% of credit managers expect US high yield to widen, survey reveals
The International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers (IACPM) has revealed the results for its latest IACPM Credit Outlook Survey – and the outlook appears to be bleak

Institutional investors - does Europe still provide the best opportunities in credit?
Cash or synthetics, CLOs versus CMBS, senior or junior debt? Institutional investors have a variety of ways to approach credit investing and Creditflux's biannual survey of credit allocators aims to determine which market they view as offering compelling returns

Time-saving hedge fund platforms stop opportunities evaporating
Lengthy commitment periods and drawn-out negotiations between institutional investors and fund managers could be a thing of the past thanks to a wave of multi-manager hedge fund platforms

Creditflux parent rebrands as Acuris
Creditflux’s parent company gained a new name last month, with Mergermarket Group relaunching as Acuris

Fund platform AMX eyeballs credit funds
Willis Towers Watson’s hedge fund platform has grown to $1.5 billion – and there is space for credit managers