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

Tourists have turned high yield into a sketchier neighbourhood… IG credit could be the answer
Using CDS to exploit roll-down in IG credit can generate good returns even in a low-rate environment

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.

Ucits at a glance

Fund performance

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.  

US pension replaces Cliffwater with Meketa
Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has selected Meketa as a consultant to oversee its opportunistic investments, which consists of direct lending and opportunistic credit investments, along with investments in hedge funds and real assets.  

HSBC pension chief joins London CIV in top role
London Collective Investment Vehicle (London CIV) has appointed Mark Thompson to serve as chief investment officer (CIO), effective from September.  

Loomis Sayles puts together Asia bond fund
Loomis Sayles has added to its credit offering with the launch of its new Asia Bond Plus strategy

Nikko AM garners €144 million for TLAC bond fund
The global total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) bond fund will “provide active investors the opportunity to earn a strong premium”

Another BlackRock official lands at new manager Tresidor
Tresidor was founded by CIO Michael Phelps, formerly the head of European fundamental credit at BlackRock