Being the only provider in a deal allows us to be closer to the company
Tikehau's Cécile Mayer-Lévi takes our credit quiz

Unlevered direct lending funds bring in first-time investors
Unlevered direct lending funds are particularly appealing to first-time investors and one of the biggest managers in the business has taken note of this

Marathon proposes alternative to long-running Medley BDC merger dispute
Marathon has joined the race to take on two business development companies managed by Medley

"It makes no sense in a one-to-one world": Goldman BDC dissolves JV with pension fund
Goldman Sachs BDC (GSBD) has dissolved its joint venture partnership with Regents of the University of California as the Senior Credit Fund “no longer makes sense in a one-to-one world”, according to the business development company's Q4 2018 earnings call.

Private credit delivers strong returns for Finnish pension
Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER) has generated 12.4% from its private credit funds for 2018, according to its latest annual report  

Capitala BDC forms $150 million mid-market JV with Kempner
Capitala Finance Corporation and Kemper subsidiary Trinity Universal Insurance Company have teamed up to launch another direct lending joint venture, following a loan-focused JV in 2015

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

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 

Mid market CLO round-up: eyes (wide) open as mid-market CLOs re-awaken
AB returned to the middle market CLO space this week after a year out to price ABPCI V. It is the second middle market CLO of the year after Fortress Investment Group refinanced Fortress Credit Opportunities VII. 

Italian journo pension scheme presses ahead with plan to invest in private debt
The National Institute for Italian Journalists' Social Security (INPGI) has launched a tender notice seeking closed-ended private debt funds to invest in, or unlisted debt instruments including infrastructure debt, private corporate debt and real estate debt  

San Francisco pension deploys $125 million into private credit
San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System has bolstered its private debt bucket, making a $125 million commitment to a senior debt fund and opportunistic credit fund that builds on other private debt investments since last year

Tikehau garners €2.1 billion for European direct lending strategy
Tikehau Investment Management has collected €2.1 billion for its fourth private debt strategy - three times larger than its predecessor fund 

BlueBay closes fourth direct lending fund at €6 billion
BlueBay Asset Management has held a final close for its fourth private debt fund with over €6 billion of investable capital

HPS targets $8 billion for flagship mezzanine strategy
HPS Mezzanine Partners 2019, the firm's fourth fund in its mezzanine strategy, has won $100 million from a Louisiana pension fund 

Private credit managers are partially insulated from daily market moves — for them it’s the dough, not the Dow
If asked about credit investing, Yogi Berra might have said take the fork in the road leading to private credit, says our columnist Randy Schwimmer

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

Oaktree reports distressed gains over year despite Q4 losses
Oaktree was not immune from challenging fourth quarter globally. Its distressed debt strategy, for instance, returned a gross loss of 1.5%

FrontFour continues to urge shareholders to vote against Medley BDC merger
FrontFour Capital Group, a shareholder with 3.8% ownership of Medley Capital Corporation, has issued yet another statement for shareholders to vote against the proposed merger of Medley Management with Sierra Income Corporation. 

AnaCap buys €4 billion Italian SME loan portfolio
AnaCap Financial Partners has made its first transaction of its fourth credit opportunities fund 

WhiteHorse forms $125 million middle-market JV with Ohio pension
The $79.8 billion Ohio pension fund has teamed up with WhiteHorse to form a joint venture that will have a $375 million total lending capacity

Talde launches €100 million debt fund
Talde Private Equity, a Spanish general partner company, has launched Talde Deuda Alternativa, a debt fund with a €100 million target aimed at financing European small and medium sized enterprises

IAM closes senior debt fund at C$843 million
IAM Private Debt Group, the private debt business of Integrated Asset Management Group, has closed its sixth private debt fund at C$843 million ($634 million)

Dignari nears $500 million target size for China credit fund
Dignari Capital Partners is nearing a final close for its second China-focused credit fund, according to 9 January US regulatory filings

BlueBay targets €5 billion for European direct lending strategy
BlueBay Asset Management is targeting €5 billion for its latest European direct lending strategy, according to documents seen by Creditflux, and has won $125 million in commitments from two US pension funds