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

Galapagos failure-to-pay credit event posed to DC as bond grace period lapses
The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has accepted a request to rule on whether Galapagos Holding, a former iTraxx Crossover index constituent, has triggered a failure-to-pay credit event

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

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  

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

Deutsche Bank AT1s stage uneven recovery as financials lag broader rally
The prompt secondary market backlash to Deutsche Bank’s plans for a major haul of its investment banking business has abated, with AT1 bonds experiencing a revival and outperforming equity. But while there has been little contagion to the rest of the AT1 space, financials are lagging the broader European credit rally

EIB and Amundi form green partnership for high yield, private debt and securitisations
Amundi and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have teamed-up to launch Green Credit Continuum (Greco) programme with the aim of raising €1 billion over the next three years for green credit initiatives

Columbia Threadneedle appoints EMEA high yield head
Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) has appointed a head of high yield in Europe, Middle East, and Africa  

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

Net short CDS provisions reach Europe as Legoland owner aims to block activist investors
A buy-out financing package for Merlin Entertainment will provide what looks to be the first instance in the European market of provisions aimed at deterring lenders from being net short borrowers’ debt through CDS

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.

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

Rallye CDS auction price drops to 12.5 cents on unmatched sell requests
Rallye's credit event auction to settle CDS contracts produced a final price of 12.5 cents today, lower than the initial price set in the first round this morning of 14.975

Rallye CDS set for high pay-out with credit event auction underway
Rallye CDS looks set for a high pay-out to protection buyers after a credit event auction today to settle the contracts produced an inside market midpoint of 14.875 cents, slightly below where the retailer’s bonds have been quoted

Artemis launches short-dated high yield fund for new fixed income team
 The fund will be managed by its new fixed income team who recently joined the firm from Kames

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

Rallye CDS auction to have 10 dealers and six deliverables
10 dealers will take part in an auction next week to settle CDS contracts referencing Rallye, after the Determinations Committee voted to add Morgan Stanley as a participating bidder

Citi hires UK banks and private equity solution sales head
Citi has hired a long-serving Credit Suisse sales specialist to fill the job previously held by recently promoted Rajiv Amlani

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

CDX IG and iTraxx back to level pegging as oil and trade weigh heaviest
Credit markets, along with stocks, enter the week on a flattish tone with focus once again on the next developments between the US and China over trade tariffs. This follows European credit faring better than the US last week as the mood strengthened around Italian and UK risks, say strategists

UK pension scheme quits tobacco
Nest is set to go tobacco free across all its investments, with the largest UK pension master trust expecting that the process will take up to two years.