Triple Bs in the firing line as Fed turns hawkish, says BofA
Triple B and long duration credit are likely to be casualties of tightening central bank policy, Bank of America strategists have warned. But high yield and cyclical investment grade sectors could fare better

CarVal exceeds target with $3.6 billion distressed credit fund
CarVal will invest in distressed credit including acquiring loan portfolios, investing in corporate securities, structured credit and hard assets

Axa IM extends palm oil policy to cover ecosystem protection and deforestation
Axa Investment Managers says it is expanding its 2014 policy of excluding investments in companies which do not have sustainable palm oil production certificates by factoring in deforestation and ecosystem protection

HSBC AM names CEO of new $53bn alternatives business
HSBC Asset Management has become the latest manager to bring together its ‘alternatives’ capabilities under one roof, with the launch of a new unit, HSBC Alternatives

Manager targets $450 million for global CLO fund
A New York pension has backed the fund, which will invest in CLO debt and equity tranches and is said to have held a first close in Q1

Credit indices hit impasse after US high yield returns to pre-covid tights
Credit improvement looks to be taking a breather on Thursday after the compression play in CDS indices took US high yield index CDX HY to its tightest prints since February 2020, before the outbreak of covid-19 began to blow out spreads

LP round up: big name managers win direct lending mandates amid $1.5 billion allocations
Apollo, Ares, Barings and CVC were among the beneficiaries of the direct lending rush in May 

Schroders unites private market divisions under Schroders Capital umbrella
Schroders has united its private market capabilities under a new umbrella branded Schroders Capital

Credit fundraising: Audax scores big in lighter month
Fundraising markedly dropped in May, but credit funds still amassed $12.8 billion and 10 credit funds reached final closes across a variety of different strategies

Breakthroughs come thick and fast for Libor alternatives
Momentum has gathered around initiatives to replace Libor in contracts, with CME Group obtaining a regulatory nod on the term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (Sofr) as well as moving to launch interest rate futures based on banks’ short term credit yields

Focus shifts to macro views amid blurry relative value picture
Relative value trading has become a difficult place to operate in credit, with previously effective strategies such as compression, pairs and basis hard to discern and opportunities difficult to source, according to portfolio managers. 

Single Bs bomb as beta narrative shifts
Few signalled themes in credit have died away as quickly as that of the outperformance of single B rated credit, which several firms proposed at the start of May but soon found crushed by a cocktail of worries around inflation, central bank policy, supply and high yield fund outflows

Direct lending newcomers reveal doubts over losses
Large direct lenders are quick to point out that experience and restructuring experience counts, particularly as we enter a default phase. What’s surprising is that, when it comes to capital markets investors, those new to direct lending doubt their own ability to manage losses. 

Equity tranche longs fall out of favour as spreads tighten and dispersion picks up after uniform moves
Dispersion is picking up after relatively uniform moves in credit in the early part of 2021. CDS index equity tranches had outperformed for much of this year but spreads have gapped out a touch in the past few weeks

Fund performance: CLO funds outperform as two hit over 100% 12-months return
CLO funds swatted away the competition in April on their way to dominating our top 10 credit hedge fund return table after an upbeat month

Credit hedge funds (June 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Altana sits atop tables as credit bounces back
Ucits funds picked up in April as 79% made positive returns

Credit funds at a glance (June 2021)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit

Credit bull run picks up amid commodities surge
European credit spreads have made a sharp turn for the tighter, building on last week's strong run, even after Asian spreads weakened on rising commodity costs

Credit grind makes it five days out of five in bullish week
Credit markets are heading into the weekend on a fifth straight day of improving spreads, amid signs of returning economic confidence and appetite to invest in the asset class

HarbourVest closes $833 million credit opportunities fund
HarbourVest Credit Opportunities Fund II will target a 13-16% net internal rate of return with a portfolio of around 70% credit and 30% equity

Financials and high yield outperform as rally gathers momentum
Credit spreads are enjoying a second day of improvement to regain some of the ground they lost last week, with Italian banks, commodity traders and higher yielding borrowers among outperformers in a broad rally of both indices and single name borrowers

Carlyle hires head of credit investor relations in New York
Carlyle Group has hired an ex-Pretium official to lead investor relations for its credit platform

CPPIB reveals $600 million in credit investments across France, India and US
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has revealed $600 million in credit allocations to three managers

PE firm HG targets up to $1 billion for credit fund to invest in its portfolio companies
Documents show HG's Titan 1 will allow investors to capture the returns that have historically gone to third-party credit investors