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

First Abu Dhabi Bank pushes into credit derivatives with trading head hire
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is making a foray into credit derivatives and has hired an experienced credit trader to lead the initiative

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

Border to Coast pension seeks exposure to UK investment grade credit
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is set to begin a manager selection process, seeking UK investment grade credit and global multi-asset credit funds  

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

Deutsche Bank rehires Nordic sales head after senior official moves to buy side
The bank is bringing in a Barclays official to replace him, in a slightly more broader role, say market sources

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

Illiquid credit boost returns for PensionDanmark
PensionDanmark has generated 5.8% returns from its illiquid credit portfolio for the year 2018, according to its latest annual report published today. But its liquid credit portfolio took a 3.4% hit

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

Robeco looks to align macro fixed income with credit as it makes senior hire
Robeco has hired Jamie Stuttard as co-head of the global fixed income macro team and fixed income strategist  

Muzinich poaches Neuberger Berman MD for top fund distribution role
Muzinich has hired a global head of distribution, according to an announcement today, picking up the role previously held by Joshua Hughes, who left for CIFC Asset Management in May

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

Ex-Citi CDO trading chief joins Jefferies as head of European fixed income
Jefferies has appointed a former Citi European credit and pre-crisis CDO trading head to lead its European fixed income business

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

BlackRock's AUM increases 22% in a year as ETFs contribute to growth
BlackRock’s assets under management have surpassed $6.2 trillion following “a record year” for the firm in 2017, company officials said in a recent earnings call