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

Ucits at a glance: Ucits begin recovery phase
April returns prove positive for Ucits funds as 85% of those listed in the Creditflux database have moved into the black after a rough March

Capital Four launches two CLO funds
Capital Four Management has plans to launch two structured credit funds focused on CLOs  that aim to capitalise on dislocation at both ends of the CLO capital stack, sources say

Lupus Alpha CLO funds enter April top 10 after cutting triple B exposure in January
Lupus Alpha CLO High Grade Invest Fund, a Ucits fund managed by Lupus Alpha, topped the Creditflux April hedge fund rankings with 12.05% returns. The Frankfurt-based manager also has two other funds in the top 10 rankings: Lupus Alpha CLO High Quality Invest (9.88%) and Lupus Alpha CLO Opportunity Notes I (8.94%)

Leveraged loan spreads to widen to March levels, warn UBS strategists
US leveraged loan spreads could widen back to March levels of 825 basis points as default risk increases, according to strategists at UBS.

Listed CLO fund rebounds in April with 5.7% gain
US and European CLO equity tranches brought in gains of 10% in April for the fund, US CLO debt 12.1%, ABS 0.6% and bank balance sheet transactions 0.3%

Listed CLO fund declares May dividend after equity avoids cashflow diversion
Axa Investment Management has declared an interim dividend on its listed CLO fund, Volta Finance, after cancelling its April dividend citing the uncertainty of cash flow payments

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Apollo earmarks $20 billion for dislocation fundraising over 12 months
Apollo's returns for corporate credit, structured credit and direct origination in the first quarter were down 8.3%, 14.7% and 4.8%, respectively, but the firm is looking to launch various credit strategies, including capital solutions, dislocation strategies and distressed strategies, that it “expects to accumulate $20 billion over the next year”

KKR deploys 10% of $2 billion coronavirus dislocation credit fund
KKR Credit has plans to launch a $2 billion dislocated corporate and asset backed credit fund to take advantage of coronavirus-induced volatility. And the New York-based manager has wasted no time swooping on opportunities after deploying $212 million by 9 April

Listed CLO fund reports 45% NAV fall in March
Marble Point Loan Financing suffered a 45% drop in net asset value total return in March, according to a portfolio update from the $158.4 million listed fund

Credit Rendezvous: recovery begins, but is it U, V or even W?
Investing in credit is not as easy as ABC. The coronavirus crisis has crushed valuations and although most assets will eventually pull to par, no one is sure how the recovery will pan out

Fair Oaks issues shares to buy more CLO debt after 50% equity tranche hit
Fair Oaks Capital has issued new shares on its CLO fund at a premium to its net asset value to capitalise on CLO debt, which it says “offers attractive risk-adjusted returns over the medium term”

Neuberger Berman eyes $500 million fundraise for CLO opportunity fund
Neuberger Berman has become the latest manager to launch a CLO opportunity fund with the New York-headquartered manager looking to raise $500 million for the vehicle

Structured credit fund loses 32.4% in March as junior US CLO debt slumps
Volta Finance’s net asset value dropped 32.4% in March, according to a monthly report released yesterday. US CLO debt was the weakest performer for the structured credit fund, managed by Axa Investment Managers, losing 41.3%.

Former JP Morgan credit prop trader relaunches credit hedge fund
Palm Lane Partners is relaunching – two years after the credit hedge fund manager looked to spin out of JP Morgan Asset Management

Structured credit dragged very wide — but CLOs stand to gain
Senior tranches of securitisations widened 220% in less than a month as the coronavirus pandemic has meant an increase in systemic risk — a sharp turnaround from the past few months when idiosyncratic risks were being cited as the main concern for structured credit investors.

Fair Oaks suspends dividends from listed CLO fund citing covid-19 uncertainty
Fair Oaks Capital has suspended dividends on its listed CLO fund “in light of the ongoing uncertainty in economies and markets caused by covid-19 pandemic”, according to an update to investors in the $315 million fund

Alcentra prepares listed credit fund
BNY Mellon Investment Advisor has teamed up with affiliate Alcentra to launch a listed fund that can invest across a range of credit strategies

PRI unveils ESG workstream for CLOs, loans and ABS
Principles for Responsible Investment has established a workstream on environmental social and governance standards in structured products

Goldman Sachs in talks to buy minority stake in Permira
Goldman Sachs is looking to buy a minority stake in private equity firm Permira

Dealers zero in on pair of managed CSO formats
The eagerly awaited introduction of ‘managed’ CSOs is getting closer, with hopes still alive for an inaugural deal before the end of March and consensus forming around two alternative approaches.

Lord Abbett preps floating rate interval fund with monthly share repurchase
Lord Abbett Enhanced Floating Rate Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in floating rate products including senior secured or unsecured loans, second lien debt and floating rate structured credit including CLOs

Credit Rendezvous: the outlook in 2020 across a dozen segments of the credit market
Welcome to the Credit Rendezvous, the first instalment of a regular feature published by Creditflux that tracks credit market dynamics in a dozen segments from investment grade, liquid loans, CLOs and CSOs all the way through to distressed debt. We view this as the meeting point for credit specialists across strategies to share their perspectives

CSO arrangers take notes from success of CLOs
CSO arrangers are looking to follow the CLO template in more ways than one, with sources indicating that some dealers are looking to structure their deals in note format (as opposed to swaps).