Arizona pension to deploy up to $700 million a year in private credit
Arizona Public Safety Employee System is looking to deploy $600-700 million in private credit strategies per year in order to meet its target allocation, according to board documents seen by Creditflux.

Reality bites after credit traders abandon Brexit hedges
Rediscovered faith in the ability of the UK and European Union to reach an agreement before the 31 October Brexit deadline has helped fuel a surge tighter of credit spreads, led by UK financial names. But that break with caution faces an immediate reality check today, following admissions a lot more work is needed

Draghi sends European credit to 2019 tights, as Trump demands Fed response
European investment grade credit – and particularly the financial sector – surged tighter today as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, in the penultimate meeting of his reign, unveiled a ‘whatever it takes’ stimulus

iTraxx and CDX roll provisional lists reveal effects of index overhauls
Eagerly awaited provisional lists are out for this month’s index CDS rolls, with big changes signalled across iTraxx and CDX products

Credit traders’ kickstand: it’s a tough time to go short
Credit derivative indices are ending the week back at very tight levels, with a re-convergence of spreads, with little appetite to bet against presumed central bank dovishness or the upcoming CDS rolls in September

Flat curves and decompression make waves below the surface
Hopes of using the summer slowdown to get to the beach may be tempered for credit relative value traders, where opportunities abound behind the uninspiring benchmark numbers of the slow market grind.

BlueMountain lands senior credit trader in New York
BlueMountain has hired an experienced trader in New York to cover credit and special situations

Ontario pension selects new president and CEO

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has appointed Jo Taylor as its new president and chief executive officer, effective 1 January  

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

Highbridge refocuses on credit as it liquidates listed multi-strategy fund
Highbridge Capital Management has announced to investors in a multi-strategy fund that it is winding down the vehicle and refocusing its business exclusively towards credit

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

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

Texas pension fund looks to top up credit portfolio
Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) has decided to increase by 3% its target allocation to strategic credit  

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

CIFC launches CLO fund with investment grade mandate
CIFC Asset Management is back in the market with yet another CLO-focused fund – this time, aimed at investment grade opportunities

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

Blackstone builds on multi-asset approach with fifth fund
The new vehicle will invest directly into Blackstone deals across its alternatives platform

Axiom puts tranches at core of push into synthetic credit
Axiom Alternative Investments is set to target both index and bespoke tranches with the launch of Axiom Synthetic Credit Opportunity Fund.

Distressed debt outperforms as Texas pension fund's credit strategies gain 11.2%
Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS), the $30 billion pension fund, generated 11.2% annualised returns from its credit portfolio for the year ending 30 June. Distressed debt was a major positive, but IG credit lost value

Portfolio managers continue to be pessimistic on credit outlook, survey finds
A survey by the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers states that 56% respondents believe average corporate default rates will increase over the next 12 months 

San Francisco pension fund to deploy up to $4.5 billion in private debt
The City and County of San Francisco Employee’s Retirement System has revealed details of its new private debt pacing plan - which will see it deploy up to $4.5 billion and partner with up to 25 private debt managers over the next six years

KKR and FS Investment close $18 billion BDC platform deal
New York-based KKR and Philadelphia-headquartered FS investments yesterday closed their deal to create the market's largest BDC platform