Older, US direct lending funds hold more equity positions, adding risk – MSCI
EXCLUSIVE: Around 15% of the total assets across US senior direct lending funds tracked by MSCI are equity positions of some kind, MSCI head of private credit research Patrick Warren told Creditflux

Sona prices second US CLO less than two months after inaugural deal
The London-headquartered alternative asset manager followed up its debut US issue in early April with an upsized EUR 502.5m transaction on Thursday

GoldenTree tightens US CLO AAA benchmark to 118bps with USD 726m new issue
Unusually, the deal featured three arrangers, with Bank of America taking the lead and Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo acting as co-arrangers

Ares’ semi-liquid BDC boosts borrowing capacity
Ares Strategic Income Fund, a semi-liquid private credit fund designed for individual investors, increased the amount of liquidity available on hand after an uptick in investor exit requests

New Mexico, Los Angeles systems make tactical credit allocations
New Mexico re-ups USD 550m for Silver Rock's tactical allocation strategy; Los Angeles pension commits USD 80m to Hayfin's European credit fund

The PMs leading the next wave of European CLO strategies
ANALYSIS: A series of high-profile hires have been made ahead of an expected influx of new European CLO managers this year

ECB warns of private credit cross-border risks, opacity
Private credit in isolation poses limited risks to financial stability, but the European Central Bank says it is still concerned about spillover

Growing private-equity, private-credit fund sizes threaten IRR—Texas TRS
EXCLUSIVE: The US pension giant told Creditflux that it wishes both private equity and private credit managers would raise smaller funds and focus on returns rather than AUM growth 

Arcano upsizes newest European CLO
Spanish manager Arcano Partners has priced its fourth new CLO via Jefferies, with the transaction upsized to a target par of EUR 450m

Around half of private credit originators use AI tools—Armentum
EXCLUSIVE: Nearly all of the 150 private credit managers surveyed by Armentum Partners this year said they use AI for research, and around 20% are specifically using AI tools as part of underwriting

Bain prices USD 612m BSL CLO
The transaction, arranged by Jefferies, was the manager's third new US issue for the year

Energy demand creates opportunities in EM private credit – Ninety One
The credit specialist remains “highly committed” to emerging market private credit as demand for energy grows

BBAM prices seventh US CLO, plans four more deals globally over next 12 months
BBAM US CLO VII issued its senior triple A paper at SOFR plus 123bps

Apollo issue sees European CLO AAAs nudge down further to 125bps
Apollo's Redding Ridge priced RRE 29 Loan Management via Barclays on Wednesday

CLO equity and private credit offer comparable returns—Texas TRS
EXCLUSIVE: The US institutional investor giant approaches credit investments opportunistically and as it seeks to achieve a 7% return target for its overall portfolio, CIO Jase Auby told Creditflux

Barings raises more than USD 19bn for global direct lending strategy
The firm raised capital from institutional, insurance and private wealth investors globally

Bain CLO’s F-note downgrade could signal incoming trend – Fitch
The recent downgrade of class-F notes in Bain Capital Euro CLO 2018-1 may not prove an isolated case among European CLOs, according to the ratings agency

Carlyle hires new head of European liquid credit and CLOs as MacKenzie exits
EXCLUSIVE: Stuart MacKenzie, who headed European liquid credit and oversaw European CLOs, is stepping down and leaving Carlyle, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

Citi, HPS strike EUR 15bn private debt program
BlackRock-owned HPS and Citi are working together to offer private capital solutions to sponsor-backed and corporate-owned borrowers

US CLO spreads break 120bp barrier as Oak Hill Advisors prices latest issue
OHA Credit Funding 26 priced the tightest standard-duration US deal in almost two months, while the end of the week also saw KKR printing its latest new-issue deal

BSP prices latest new European CLO
The EUR 405.7m transaction, which issued on Friday, is the manager’s fourth European issue for the year and its second new issue

A&E and dividend recap activity populates primary, with new-money deals also pre-marketed – Europe Loan Digest
Smiths Detection, Schülke in pre-marketing; Hanab, TMF flex down pricing on recap deals; Caldic, Envalior, BME performance in focus

Leveraged loan price bifurcation widening — S&P
A growing distressed tail is trading below 80, while other loans are trading above par, pressuring CLO investors and managers

New US BSL CLOs issue from Elmwood, Apollo and Five Arrows as AAA spreads solidify at 120bps
Elmwood and Apollo have priced new half-billion-dollar US BSL CLOs this week, as Five Arrows also printed a new USD 405m transaction via Citi

Blackstone prints new European CLO at 126bps, Silver Point issues second Euro deal
Blackstone’s latest European CLO printed this week as a EUR 403m transaction via Jefferies, while Silver Point followed up its debut European offering last October with a second deal arranged through Barclays