Churchill raises $12 billion for senior lending strategy
The total includes closes of Churchill's levered, unlevered funds and separately managed accounts

Vista hires from Anchorage to lead credit platform investor relations
Vista Equity Partners has appointed Michael Charlton as managing director for capital and partner solutions, responsible for investor relations on the firm's credit platform Vista Credit Partners

Apollo invests $1 billion in IG CLOs, launches secondary solutions platform and cuts BDC fees
In its earnings call, Apollo highlighted the resilience of the CLO asset class, strong deployment in direct lending, upcoming reduction in management fees for its publicly traded BDC and the launch of a new secondaries and sponsor solutions platforn, seeded by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

KKR reports $115 billion dry powder as it changes public markets business name
KKR reported strong deployment and dry powder figures but fee-related earnings came short of expectations

Ares plans four credit fund launches amid strong deployment
Ares Management benefitted from strong private credit deployment in the quarted and unveiled plans to raise its sixth European direct lending fund, second flagship closed-end alternative credit fund and third US junior capital direct lending fund

First Eagle wraps up fundraising for $1 billion direct lending fund
The strategy will target 6-9% net internal rate of return for its unlevered sleeve and 8-11% net IRR of return for its levered sleeve

LP round up: Apollo and Silver Rock win over $1 billion as pensions plough into private debt
Institutional investors allocated at least $2 billion to credit funds in April, according to Creditflux data, with Apollo and Silver Rock emerging as big winners

Trade finance specialist sentenced to 12 years in prison for CLO and fund fraud
David Hu, the former chief investment officer of International Investment Group, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in running a “Ponzi-like scheme”, which included using a CLO to create fraudulent loans.  

Crestline collects $3.6 billion across three private credit fund closes
The Fort Worth, Texas-based manager has closed its fourth opportunistic credit fund, third direct lending fund and second portfolio financing fund

StepStone scores AAA rating for listed bond linked to US direct lending portfolio
StepStone Group has sponsored a $102.5 million securitisation of US direct lending loans that is listed on Mexico’s BIVA Stock Exchange in what it claims is the first transaction of its kind in Mexico

Spac pricing hints at Sound Point's growth ambitions in loan market
Sound Point Acquisition Corp has priced a $225 million IPO, signalling that credit asset manager Sound Point Capital Management is looking to expand its platform

LP round up: two CLO funds win support as Cali pensions home in on private credit
Two investors revealed allocations to European and US CLO funds, private credit allocations increases and private credit consultant searches get underway

Natixis IM to sell stake in Canadian asset manager Fiera
Natixis Investment Managers is selling all 10.68 million class A subordinate voting shares it holds in Canada's Fiera Capital

Blackstone secures $8.75 billion for lending fund
Blackstone Credit has collected $8.75 billion on the final close of its latest credit opportunities fund, Blackstone Capital Opportunities Fund IV, above its $7.5 billion target

US pensions assign $1.5 billion to 16 credit managers in December
US public pensions rounded off 2021 by gifting credit managers around $1.5 billion in commitments, according to documents seen by Creditflux

BC closes $1.2 billion second special opportunities fund 12 months’ incubation
BCP Special Opportunities Fund II has collected $1.2 billion in capital commitments - but a year later than it originally earmarked a final close

Credit Fundraising: mega funds contribute to record-breaking month as volume hits $39bn
The sheer size of the funds raised in November more than compensated for a drop in the number of funds raised as fundraising volume in credit reached $38.9 billion. This beat September by $2.4 billion to make it the most productive month of credit fundraising in 2021

Ironwood targets $500 million for mezz debt and equity fund
Ironwood Capital is targeting $500 million ($550 million hard cap) for its latest fund which will focus on subordinated debt and minority equity investments in lower middle market US companies

Supply chain crisis hits credit amid shift to physical products
Credit investors are bracing for choppy waters as the supply chain crisis makes itself felt on company balance sheets heading into the year end

Most investors still behind target with sustainability and impact investing, survey finds
72% of global investors plan to increase their allocation targets to sustainability and impact investing. That is according to a limited partner survey by private markets firm HarbourVest Partners HarbourVest’s 2021 ESG, Sustainability, and Impact Investing Survey of LPs

LP round up: no Stoptober as investors allocate $5 billion to credit
US institutional investors allocated $5 billion to credit funds in October, with Oak Hill and Pimco among the biggest mandates    

Eagle Point hits $300 million hard cap on BDC-lending fund
Eagle Point Credit Management says it has held a $300 million final close on its Defensive Income Fund, hitting its hard cap and exceeding its original $250 million target

Brookfield hires industry veteran as public securities CIO
Brookfield Asset Management has hired a long-serving credit and equity market professional as chief investment officer for its public securities group

Antares names CEO following Brackett's retirement
Antares Capital has named its new chief executive officer, following the retirement of CEO David Brackett effective 31 December

Investcorp strikes partnership with distressed mid-market specialist
Marblegate Asset Management and Investcorp say they have formed a strategic partnership where the latter will provide Marblegate with long-term capital to strengthen its investment platform and provide access to to Investcorp's investor network