High yield shorts and basis trades abound as borrowers race to issue
Discrepancies between high yield bonds and CDS could be a rich mine of activity in the coming months, say investors, with volatility set to rise while defaults and late cycle signals avail trading opportunities

Selecta CDS auction date set with revised deliverables process
The Emea Determinations Committee has set a date later this month to settle Select Group CDS and has notified a change to its rules for choosing deliverable obligations

Selecta splashes CLOs with bankruptcy credit event
Selecta Group has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Emea Determinations Committee has ruled

Time to trade falling dispersion and high yield compression, says JP Morgan
Investors should position for falling dispersion by trading on-the-run versus off-the-run iTraxx Europe index series, say JP Morgan strategists. And Crossover / Main compression trades look attractive as high yield underperformance has gone too far

Tranche traders smell the coffee as Crossover default percolates
Selecta Group looks set to become the third European credit event in as many months to hit series 33 of the iTraxx Crossover index and tranches based on series 32

IG tranches look 'boring' after distressed names ejected at roll
September’s index rolls brought tranche traders some of the starkest portfolio changes in recent years, with fallen angels and defaults shifting correlation dynamics. This creates relative value openings, but investors will take longer to move into new series as they require extra analysis, say dealers.

The tranche market shines, whatever your view on credit
Index tranche volumes have reached record levels this year and CSOs have withstood the covid crisis. Panellists at the Credit Dimensions webinar outlined a range of trades in a thriving market

Dealers power up as tranche trading hits new heights
A big year for index tranche trading has taken volume within grasping distance of full-year 2019, a post-financial crisis record, with a deepening pool of dealers adding support

Past returns: Bravo! Citi takes applause with CSO portfolios
Five years ago in Creditflux we reported that Citi was planning a follow up to its Bravo portfolio — a CSO reference entity in which the bank made two-way markets

They said it: "Clearing houses have proposed they will clear index tranches next year"
More liquidity for the index tranche market

Credit spreads wind back to February to bring shorts into focus
The credit rally since April has opened up an opportunity to go short credit, say fund managers, with spreads back to where they were in late February

Gaining exposure to US IG credit through the index means giving up about 10% of potential value
A bespoke portfolio of IG credits can take advantage of the skew between indices and single names

Credit hedge funds (October 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris edge towards double digit returns
Two managers stand out in the Ucits rankings as they close in on 10% YTD figures

Credit funds at a glance (October 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Fund performance: A third of funds reach positive territory in 2020
August has been another successful month for the CLO category as seven of the top 10 funds invest primarily in CLOs

ESG index roll creates long and short opportunities
The first roll of a CDS index screening for environmental, social and governance criteria has opened a less-watched relative value opportunity for investors

Former GoldenTree high-flyers launch structured credit firm in Los Angeles
A former GoldenTree senior portfolio manager and business development specialist have launched an asset manager that will invest across an array of structured credit, including CLOs, synthetics and private transactions

Credit fundraising: managers build homes for real estate credit funds
The “largest ever real estate credit fund” was one of the fundraising highlights last month as Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies IV fund reached $8 billion on its final close

Go long index mezz tranches to pick up spread: Citi
Citi research has outlined some of the opportunities that have arisen in the index tranche market as a result of elevated correlation

Dealers cut Pizza Express final price to shape of pizza
An auction to settle Pizza Express CDS ended up paying out almost 100% to buyers of protection, with dealers driving the final price even lower than they had initially bid

Morgan Stanley expands index tranche trading with London hire
Morgan Stanley has added to its index tranche trading prowess by hiring a London-based market maker for the asset class as well as credit options

Pizza Express auction leaves protection sellers with just pineapple
An auction to settle Pizza Express CDS looks set to leave protection sellers with little solace, after the first round of bidding indicated a high pay-out on contracts referencing the UK-based restaurant chain

Europe/US high yield gap re-opens with roll, but raises fair value questions
The semi-annual roll of US high yield index CDX HY has once again put daylight between it and European counterpart iTraxx Europe. But the new series has come in tighter than some market participants had anticipated

European high yield converges on US as credit pushes wider
A worrisome week is ending with spreads pushing to new local wides and underperformance of European high yield versus US credit