Credit traders' kickstand: European financials outperform as Trump-Xi meeting looms
Credit markets are finely poised going into the weekend, when US president Donald Trump’s crunch G20 meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping likely could set the direction of trade from Monday

US and European basis trades in play as bonds lag CDS rally
A recent outperformance of CDS indices versus cash bonds has opened up basis trade opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic, say credit strategists

Credit traders' kickstand: nervous equilibrium gives way to weakness as earnings and tariffs weigh
Healthy fund inflows, European and US holidays, and a thinning primary market helped sustain credit spreads this week, but a weaker turn today shows this is a fragile equilibrium and company earnings misses are starting to be punished more severely

Credit traders' kickstand: grave times for UK banks and corps as May goes away
UK banks have been among the main underperformers in credit this week, with market sources noting that today’s notice of Prime Minister Theresa May’s intention to resign on 7 June increases the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. And UK 'zombie' companies appear to be forming a herd

Credit traders' kickstand: widening catalysts gather force with focus on financials
Credit markets are once again ending the week on a negative tone, having regained some posture over previous sessions following last week’s tariff-driven sell-off. Credit index spreads appear inclined to trade within a range, but potential catalysts for that range to shift wider outweigh any obvious reasons to return to the tight prints of last month

New investments drive Canada Pension Plan’s credit returns to 8.7%
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)’s credit portfolio has delivered good returns during the 2019 fiscal year, despite the market volatility, according to the institution’s annual financial report  

Louisiana pension allocates $150 million to US credit funds
The Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana has committed to Torchlight Debt Opportunity Fund VI and Summit Partners Credit III, a spokesperson for the pension fund has confirmed  

16% of insurers plan CLO allocation increase, survey finds
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has released its annual insurance asset management survey

Dealers line up to settle Windstream CDS today
Dealers will today hold a credit event auction to settle CDS referencing Windstream Services, with Morgan Stanley added to the list of participating bidders

New manager Resco lands ex-credit head to found advisory board
Resco Asset Management, a London based asset manager set up last year, has appointed the first of an anticipated three advisory board members

Seven name changes as CDX HY rolls into tighter new series
The CDX HY index rolls today into series 32, with seven constituents changing from series 31 and a tighter portfolio spread expected to result

Challenge rejected on cheapest-to-deliver bonds for Windstream CDS auction
The Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has unanimously rejected a challenge by a market participant against allowing some of the cheapest Windstream bonds to be delivered into an auction to settle CDS referencing the company

Brookfield strikes deal to buy 62% stake in Oaktree
Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to buy a 62% stake in Oaktree Capital Management in a move which will lead to the creation of one of the largest asset managers in the business.

Windstream CDS auction delayed by two weeks
An auction to settle CDS referencing Windstream Holdings has been postponed by two weeks, after dealers on the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee agreed the process needed more time

Dealers set Windstream credit event auction date
An auction to settle CDS referencing Windstream Holdings will take place on Monday, 18 March

Isda tables plans to rid CDS market of narrowly tailored credit events
After lengthy deliberation, a working group of major firms is today set to publish proposals aimed at ridding the market of ‘narrowly tailored credit events’, whereby borrowers are persuaded to default on debt payments in order to trigger pay-outs for CDS holders

Windstream set for high CDS pay-out as DC picks initial deliverable obligations
Windstream Holdings CDS protection holders look set for a high pay-out, as the cheapest deliverable obligations into the defaulted company’s credit event auction are quoted in the mid-20s

Los Angeles pension seeks high yield managers
Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System has launched a request for proposals, searching for firms to manage up to $216 million each in a mix of high yield strategies, through separately managed accounts  

Ares grows credit 34% with direct lending boost, but high yield takes rough ride in Q4
Ares Management Corporation reported strong returns for its European direct lending strategies in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the firm's overall revenues slumped and its US loan funds and high yield strategies were hit by the volatile credit market 

Carlyle performance dips in Q4, but credit teams ride global volatility
Credit fund performance dipped for the Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter, as market volatility and fund outflows put a dent in the industry’s much stronger performance of the previous three quarters

Boost for Parker Drilling protection buyers as CDS settles lower than expected
Parker Drilling credit default swaps have settled at a lower value than expected, after physical settlement sell requests drove down the price at auction and increased the windfall for protection buyers

Parker Drilling recovery implied at 45 cents as dealers get set for CDS auction
An auction to settle credit default swaps referencing Parker Drilling will take place today, with bond trading levels of the defaulted company implying a payout to protection buyers of around 45-46 cents on the dollar

Sears CDS settles well above bonds on physical settlement squeeze
Predictions that credit default swaps referencing Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp would recover at a high level have been borne out, with an auction to settle the contracts having returned a value of almost 80 cents on the dollar – nearly 30 points higher than where bonds of the bankrupt US retailer have been quoted

Dealers gear up to settle Sears CDS and rule on Ziggo successor
The long wait to settle the final price of Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps will end today with a credit event auction, while investors could also learn whether there is successor to contracts referencing deregistered Ziggo Bond Finance

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider