Regulators delay final initial margin deadline and add extra roll-out phase
Regulators have granted a one-year reprieve to smaller counterparties from a requirement to post initial margin on derivative trades, while introducing an additional implementation phase. But while a relief for large numbers of firms struggling to meet the deadline, the concession still ignores calls from industry bodies to deploy a higher final capture threshold

GSO adds $10 billion to inflows with direct lending, structured credit and energy
Blackstone grew its credit assets under management to $139.3 billion, up 13% on a year ago, according to the firm's second quarter earnings release

Investor requirements rather than performance is driving ESG push: Creditflux survey
Only 14% of respondents to Creditflux's global credit ESG survey said performance was the main reason they were adopting envoronmental, social and governance-themed strategies

UK pension pool to launch maiden private credit offering
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is launching its first private credit offering in early Q4, Creditflux has learned

Weatherford CDS auction next week could have 17 deliverables
There are 17 notes on the initial list of deliverable obligations for an auction next week to settle Weatherford International CDS, the Americas Determinations Committee has said

Private debt boosts Partners' AUM
Partners Group has reached €17.2 billion in private debt assets for the first half of 2019, with private debt experiencing the highest net growth among all private markets, according to an AUM update from the manager today  

Muzinich targets short-maturity bonds for new global IG credit fund
Muzinich & Co has raised €352 million for an investment grade credit Ucits fund on the back of what it describes as a “response to strong client demand”

CDS has spillover effect on bond liquidity but could cause fire sales, finds BoE researcher
Single name CDS positioning is positive for the bonds of borrowers referenced by the contracts through a ‘liquidity spillover effect’, according to a new paper by a Bank of England research economist. But mark-to-market losses on CDS brought about by higher margining costs could lead to fire sales in the bond market, the paper adds.

Calpers misses returns target despite fixed income outperformance
California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) has missed its annual investment target despite strong performance from its fixed income portfolio, which was its top performer  

UBS pushes into private credit as part of private markets expansion
UBS has launched a global private capital markets team, which includes a new emphasis on private credit

Credit traders’ kickstand: curve flatteners and skew trades gain ground
Grinding tighter is the order of the day in credit markets – and indeed looks likely to be the order for much of next week, with an absence of obvious events and catalysts to dictate otherwise. But the strength of the rally in CDS indices has left ‘catch up’ opportunities for relative value traders in curve, basis and even skew based strategies, say market participants

Carlyle targets upper mid-market credit for new $3.1 billion fund
Carlyle Group has raised $3.1 billion for the first fund in its credit opportunities series.

Weatherford faces credit event auction with 50% area recoveries implied
The Americas Credit Determinations Committee has agreed to hold an auction to settle CDS referencing Weatherford International, having ruled last week the Houston headquartered oilfield services provider had triggered a bankruptcy credit event

Tranche trading is back: relative value plays power growth
Synthetic bespoke and index tranche markets are shifting through the gears and accelerating, say investors, as an increasing prevalence of relative value trading strategies evoke dreams of the products returning to pre-financial crisis glory.

Axa IM finds replacement for top fixed income role
Axa Investment Managers has appointed Christophe Herpet as global head of Axa fixed income and its buy and maintain division

Credit traders' kickstand: European financials outperform as Trump-Xi meeting looms
Credit markets are finely poised going into the weekend, when US president Donald Trump’s crunch G20 meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping likely could set the direction of trade from Monday

CVC closes $1.4 bilion special situations fund
CVC Credit Partners has held a final close at $1.42 billion for its second global special situations fund, which it says took eight months to fundraise.

Credit traders' kickstand: synthetic credit leads the way as spreads swoop on dovish wings
Dovish comments by the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve, along with thin bond issuance, contributed to a pronounced rally this week in credit market. But a nervy week may lie ahead as suspense grows before G20 summit talks between the US and China next Friday and Saturday

Barclays rehires high yield credit trader from Goldman Sachs
A high yield specialist has become the second credit trader in as many months to rejoin Barclays from Goldman Sachs

JP Morgan AM names CEO with Willcox set to leave
JP Morgan Asset Management’s chief executive officer Chris Willcox will step down from his job at the end of the year, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

US and European basis trades in play as bonds lag CDS rally
A recent outperformance of CDS indices versus cash bonds has opened up basis trade opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic, say credit strategists

Highbridge refocuses on credit as it liquidates listed multi-strategy fund
Highbridge Capital Management has announced to investors in a multi-strategy fund that it is winding down the vehicle and refocusing its business exclusively towards credit