Standard Board publishes structuring, valuation and conflict memos for credit funds
The Standard Board for Alternative Investments has published three memos as guidance to managers and investors, alongside a framework of questions investors may wish to ask managers when conducting operational due diligence

Minnesota pension's 2020 credit allocations hit $1 billion
Minnesota State Board of Investments has earmarked $400 million across to two credit managers in a private market update. The commitments mark $1 billion allocated to credit in 2020 by the pension

EnTrust aims to onboard $1 billion for maritime direct lending fund by June
EnTrust Global is targeting $1 billion for a maritime direct lending fund, Blue Ocean Onshore Fund, and anticipates a final close in June

Alantra holds €30 million first close on Spanish real estate debt fund
Madrid-based Alantra anticipates a €100 million final close by the end of the year

Alcentra's 'significant personnel changes' lead pension to terminate private credit contract
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System has plans to rescind and terminate its private credit contract with Alcentra "based on significant and unexpected turnover of senior personnel”, according to documents seen by Creditflux. The pension is instead looking to redeploy commitments to Crescent Capital

Pemberton holds €800 million first close on credit fund after two months fundraising
Pemberton held a €800 million first close on Pemberton Strategic Credit Opportunities II in March, after the fund began fundraising in mid-January. It has a €1.5 billion to €2 billion target size

Illinois pension seeks distressed debt or opportunistic credit manager
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund is requesting proposals for opportunistic and distressed private credit fund managers and has at least $25 million to allocate

European Investment Fund backs German digital direct lender
German digital direct lender Creditshelf has held a €62 million first close on its inaugural fund offering, Creditshelf Loan Fund, following a €30 million commitment from the European Investment Fund 

Direct lenders turn on liquidity taps as major Q2 test awaits
European direct lenders have been on hand to support their portfolio companies with liquidity over the past two months, sources say. These moves come despite uncertainty over the full impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on businesses in the second quarter

Creditflux announces finalists for online CLO awards
Creditflux is pleased to announce the finalists for a new-look manager awards event, which will be hosted online for the first time.

Private credit dangers lurk, but fear drives inflows
Fear of missing out is one reason institutional investors are allocating to private credit, but market partici­pants say that investors should err on the side of caution, despite the number of attractive opportunities

Direct lenders eye 200bp premium in primary market
Deal flow is streaming in for European direct lenders who, despite monitoring portfolios for covid-19 related issues, have one eye on the primary market

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

Direct lenders look to source deal flow through government-backed loans
Direct lenders have been looking to tap into government backed loans as a way of sourcing deals, either via partnering with banks or being an accredited lender

Germany's €600 billion aid package and amended insolvency rules line road to recovery
Germany has launched two major initiatives, relevant for direct lenders, to help companies weather the negative financial impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to Hans Stamm and Angelo Lercara, Munich-based partners at Dechert

Cairn wins €115 million for European loan fund
Cairn Capital's open-ended European Loan Fund has reached €380 million assets under management, following €115 million in commitments from two institutional investors

Apollo earmarks $20 billion for dislocation fundraising over 12 months
Apollo's returns for corporate credit, structured credit and direct origination in the first quarter were down 8.3%, 14.7% and 4.8%, respectively, but the firm is looking to launch various credit strategies, including capital solutions, dislocation strategies and distressed strategies, that it “expects to accumulate $20 billion over the next year”

GSO eyes $7 billion for credit opps fund and closes $4.8 billion European direct lending fund
GSO is eyeing a $7 billion target size for a new credit opportunites fund. The New York-based manager recently closed its second European direct lending fund, GSO Senior European Debt Fund II, at $4.8 billion

KKR deploys 10% of $2 billion coronavirus dislocation credit fund
KKR Credit has plans to launch a $2 billion dislocated corporate and asset backed credit fund to take advantage of coronavirus-induced volatility. And the New York-based manager has wasted no time swooping on opportunities after deploying $212 million by 9 April

HPS raises $1.5 billion SME credit fund in Europe
HPS Investment Partners has closed a $1.5 billion SME credit fund known as the European Asset Value Fund II