Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

Fund performance: Déjà vu as April leaders dominate
CLO funds stayed in the top flight for another month as they took over the top 10 credit hedge fund return table in May, when 87% of all funds listed made positive returns

Credit hedge funds (July 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Ucits stay positive for second month in a row
Ultra-tight credit spreads are not taking away from Ucits funds – 80% of funds in our database have again recorded positive returns.

Credit index tranche trading on the rise amid low dispersion
At its halfway point, 2021 is shaping up as another big year for credit index tranche trading, with new investors having entered the market and dealers projecting full-year volume could vie with 2020’s record of recent times.

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

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

"In the afternoon I awoke from a pile of willow leaves to discover we had created a Welsh ether-based token"
A localised crypto-currency boom and bust cycle teaches Welshcake (again) that everything becomes correlated in a downturn  

Past returns: Having a whale of a time in tranches
In Creditflux 10 years ago we reported on JP Morgan’s “little known prop book” making waves in index tranches

They said it: "The board announces the discovery of a website purporting to represent Volta"
They said it 

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

Schroders and Oaktree launch global credit ucits fund
Schroders has partnered with Oaktree Capital Management to launch a global multi-strategy credit fund, Schroder GAIA Oaktree Credit fund, which will sit within Schroders' alternatives ucits platform

Fund performance: Lightning strikes twice as range of credit funds deliver
What seemed like a chance occurrence in February has struck again in March, as seven categories make our top 10 best performing hedge funds

Credit hedge funds (May 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Altana moves into pole position
March marked a drop in pace for Ucits funds as only 62% of funds made positive returns, compared to 80% in February

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

CSOs and index tranches reach sticking point as correlation gets rich
Credit correlation trading looks to have reached a point of inflexion, as the previous bull run at the lower end of index capital stacks has given way to caution over how much further spread compression can go. At the same time, bespoke tranche business is gaining interest but equity remains stickier to sell at the market's ultra-low spread and volatility levels