Investment grade rallies hard on hopes of end to US deadlock
In a change from the recent trend investment grade credit is the front mover today, playing catch up on high yield as the market-wide rally gathers pace

LP round up: Monroe and Angelo Gordon beat 25 for direct lending mandate, as private credit plans brew
US public pension funds have disclosed $1.2 billion in commitments to credit focused strategies

IG and crossover indices converge while European CLO double Bs rally
iTraxx Crossover is again outperforming Main today with the investment grade index widening 0.11bp to 52.56bp while the crossover index is 2.42bp tighter to 296.99bp. Meanwhile bank research signals that junior CLO tranches could benefit as investors look at covid industries through a different lense 

Schroders creates multi-asset private credit fund for DB pensions
Schroder Adveq MPCF will invest in a range of private credit assets, including corporate direct lending, real estate debt and infrastructure debt

Single name shorters get improved entry point after conviction test
Returning market optimism has taken credit spreads back to ultra-tight levels. But for bears, this posits a better entry level for short trades, and the recent blow-out may have given strong pointers where to target them

Värde closes $1.6 billion dislocation fund
Värde Dislocation Fund, has a flexible, global mandate to invest in mispriced, stressed and distressed credit, focusing on short- to medium-term credit opportunities

Primary pumped as Trump gazumped and vaccine hopes jump
A 'yuge' rally is underway in credit markets today, with optimism over Joe Biden's apparent victory in the US presidential election turning to elation following a big covid-19 vaccine breakthrough

LP round up: $2.8 billion flows to credit as Apollo concedes fundraising may slow
Florida Retirement System Trust Fund made the largest commitments allocating $1.6 billion. Apollo meanwhile acknowledged a potential slowdown in fundraising as investors await results on an independent review into CEO Leon Black's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

After long retracing, tight IG names offer blow-out potential
A shift wider of credit spreads was underway as Creditflux went to press, giving weight to several weeks of mounting investor concern about how far the market has retraced since the covid sell-off in March/April

Equity tranche shorts gather for fallen angels
Investor views are starting to form around on-the-run iTraxx and CDX index tranches, following their rolls into new versions at the end of September and start of October

Credit rally rolls on as indices approach one-month tights
CDS indices are approaching their mid-October tights as reality seeps in of a divided US government and, consequently, little chance of dramatic corporate tax increases. Yesterday, iTraxx Main led the way, tightening 5.3%, followed by CDX NA HY and CDX IG (both 4.5%) and iTraxx Crossover (2.8%)

Credit fundraising: Dubai manager gets in on the act as direct lending takes off
Shuaa launches credit fund in the Gulf as Ares, Contingency, HPS and Perceptive are among those to close billion-plus funds

Apollo appoints head of credit valuations from sell-side
Apollo has appointed a head of credit valuations, as its previous head of credit valuations has transitioned internally to cover private equity valuations

European credit takes lockdown restrictions in its stride as indices tighten
European credit spreads have held firm this morning despite the re-emergence of lockdown measures with the UK government announcing on Saturday that new restrictions will come into play on 5 November

European CLOs should obtain STS certification, urges ACC
The Alternative Credit Council has urged policymakers to allow European CLOs to obtain Simple, Transparent and Standardised (STS) certification in a bid to boost non-bank lending

Ares holds €6.97 billion first close on European direct lending fund
Ares Management Group has collected $12 billion in gross credit commitments over the third quarter of the year, according to the firm’s earnings presentation, including $8.2 billion for the first closing of its fifth European direct lending fund

Direct lending green shoots flourish despite fundraising plunge
Despite the headline figures, sources say European direct lending fundraising remains healthy and newcomers have a place to enter

IG names hit hardest as cocktail of woes routs market
Investor nervousness is evident at the start of the week with a big widening of spreads on Monday as lack of accord on a new US stimulus package added to concern about rising coronavirus case numbers and jitters in the oil market

LP round up: EIF backs four debt funds while Carlyle wins $1 billion
Institutional investors have allocated just over $4 billion to 27 credit managers in October board meetings

Credit Rendezvous: sometimes you have to dive deep to find value
Some parts of the credit market are fraught with danger, but that does not mean portfolio managers are avoiding them entirely, according to the Credit Rendezvous, Creditflux's 10-page quarterly report eaturing comments from 15 credit experts

IG tranches look 'boring' after distressed names ejected at roll
September’s index rolls brought tranche traders some of the starkest portfolio changes in recent years, with fallen angels and defaults shifting correlation dynamics. This creates relative value openings, but investors will take longer to move into new series as they require extra analysis, say dealers.

Sovereign wealth funds empower direct lenders
Sovereign wealth funds are turning toward the booming private credit market, with three massive partnerships formed this year

Fund performance: A third of funds reach positive territory in 2020
August has been another successful month for the CLO category as seven of the top 10 funds invest primarily in CLOs

Former GoldenTree high-flyers launch structured credit firm in Los Angeles
A former GoldenTree senior portfolio manager and business development specialist have launched an asset manager that will invest across an array of structured credit, including CLOs, synthetics and private transactions

Barings and PGIM win loan and structured credit mandates as pension puts £2.7bn in credit
The firms will manage global syndicated loans, securitised credit, emerging market debt and global high yield credit for Border to Coast Pension Partnership's £2.7 billion ($3.43 billion) multi-asset credit fund