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

"Technology won’t replace human judgement. In ESG a qualitative review is necessary"
The social aspect of ESG must be given sufficient weight in investment decisions  

Elfa adds to ESG fact sheet range in standardisation drive
The European Leveraged Finance Association (Elfa) will shortly publish sector-specific fact sheets for the transport and healthcare industries, sources say, bringing its total of ESG fact sheets to 12

Managers offer solutions for underfunded pensions
Credit managers are tapping UK defined benefit pensions that are battling negative cashflows

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

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

Meag hires experienced credit specialist for top fixed income job
€328 billion asset manager Meag has appointed a head of active fixed income in Munich to oversee a range of assets including credit

Blackstone and Credit Suisse among participants in talks for new ESG loan index
European leveraged loan market participants – including Blackstone and Credit Suisse – are said to be in the process of launching the ESG loan index

CLO PM set to leave PGIM ahead of move to London-based manager
A London-based mid-sized CLO manager has hired an official from PGIM 

DWS and Tikehau target UK pensions with multi-strategy credit fund
The new fund will invest in CLOs, ABS, private debt, leveraged loans, infrastructure debt and real estate debt

Woah, we’re halfway there
Judging by the 2020 vintage, European CLO overlap is 50%. But varied approaches to holding bonds and the many loans managers turn down mean there are ways for issuers to outperform

BofA and State Street divided over CLO convertibles
A split has emerged in the approach between the two big buyers of triple A-rated CLO tranches that are structured as loans

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

CLOs cushioned as regulators get more comfortable on Sofr
The quest to find a suitable Libor replacement looks to have taken a big step forward in recent weeks, with hopes rekindled that securitised products such as CLOs and ABS could soon make use of a term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (Sofr)

CME touts forward-looking Sofr term benchmarks
CME Group has begun publishing term benchmarks for the secured overnight interest rate (Sofr) as part of the global push to move away from Libor in financial markets

Credit Rendezvous: ready and waiting
In Creditflux's quarterly review of credit, portfolio managers tell us that Inflation is likely to nudge higher but they are optimistic because dispersion will pick up and windows of volatility will emerge, rather than elongated phases of stress 

Beneath the triple C: CLOs benefit as upgrades make for lighter triple C buckets
For the first time since the sell off in March last year, downgrades to triple C have come to a near-standstill

BofA and Citi unveil multi-dealer platform for CLOs and loans
Bank of America and Citi have joined forces with plans for a multi-dealer CLO and loan platform which will cover trading, data and analytics

ESG drive poses little threat to CLO returns or flexibility, says Moody's
Environmental, social and governance investment criteria are not impairing CLOs either in flexibility or performance, Moody's Investors Service has found in a new report

CLO managers eye bonds as short-dated loan universe shrinks
European CLO managers that focus on bonds say they had flexibility in the first quarter as the new issue loan pipeline ramped up

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris lead the pack again
Ucits funds saw the brighter side of February, as 80% of funds achieved a positive return