ICG hits USD 7.5bn fundraising mark for hybrid private debt fund
ICG Europe IX is now three-quarters of the way to its EUR 10bn target

Dealmaking optimism appears in European credit – CVC
The alternative asset manager increased its European credit exposure during the third quarter after seeing a spread pickup

Blackstone raises USD 1.6bn for new high-yield ABF strategy
The alternative asset management giant is targeting USD 4bn for its new high yield, private-asset-based finance fund

CVC raises USD 700m for CLO equity fund, plans new products
The European private credit manager also expects to hold a final close for its European Direct Lending Fund IV in late 3Q

Apollo looks elsewhere, saying CLOs suffer from commoditization
The alternative asset manager said CLOs have tightened to levels that are unsustainable

French hedgers price in election six months ahead
The CDS market is well known to be more reactive than cash credit to changes of sentiment. However, a growing fixation among participants to price in macro and political risk ahead of time appears to have hit an extreme in the case of French presidential election hedging — more than six months before the country goes to the polls

BTIG hires strategist to cover US and European financials
Nandana Shenoy has joined BTIG in New York to work as a strategist covering US and European financials, according to an announcement by the brokerage

Credit traders expose themselves to Brexit bungle
Credit investors have set themselves up for disappointment, with UK related names leading another push tighter ahead of the culmination of talks between the UK and European Union aimed at reaching a last-gasp Brexit agreement

Regulation stifles SRTs, but banks and investors revel in quarter-four outperformance
Over the course of 2018 there was roughly €6.5 billion of issuance in the market for significant risk transfer (SRT) deals, sources say, with the last three months understood to be the busiest quarter on record

AT1s should be highly valued, not feared
Additional tier one (AT1) bonds stand out as a rich source of value this year, say portfolio managers, despite the shock headlines generated mid-February by Santander’s decision not to call a €1.5 billion note

They said it: Changing the rules
“The ECB has just changed the rules. You can get zero-ed overnight.” 

Banco Popular becomes first credit to trigger new-style CDS
Isda’s credit determinations committee ruled on Friday that Spain’s Banco Popular has triggered a “government intervention” credit event on its credit default swaps

French financial trades boost European credit hedge funds
Credit hedge funds that play in European financials have posted big gains on French bank credit ahead of this month’s presidential elections.