Two large managers prepare CLO funds
Another two managers have joined the plethora of firms launching CLO-focused funds of late including CIFC, Capital Four, DFG, Eagle Point, Neuberger Berman, Octagon, and Tetragon

LP round up: managers keep fundraising hopes high as GSO targets $7.5 billion for mezz offering
Institutional investors allocated $1.6 billion into credit this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Permira holds €3.48 billion final close on fourth direct lending fund
Permira Debt Managers has collected €3.48 billion for its fourth direct lending strategy, marking the fund’s final close on 31 March

Golding holds first close for private debt vehicle
Munich-headquartered fund-of-funds manager Golding Capital Partners has held a first close on almost €200 million for its private debt fund Golding Private Debt 2020

Apollo joins forces with Mubadala for big direct lending deals
Apollo Global Management has launched a ‘large scale direct lending’ platform, which it says is anchored by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company

US and Europe diverge as loan trading bands emerge on the continent
Europe and the US are on different courses with credit indices having drifted apart over the past month, say trading sources. Europe is expected to suffer fewer defaults to the extent that "it’s getting quite difficult for borrowers to default”, as one source put it. But the US has "higher growth potential due to its more dynamic economy"

Lufthansa spreads guided down after heavy turbulence
A volatile week for Deutsche Lufthansa is ending with spreads tighter, after shareholders came around to backing a German government bailout

Lufthansa climbs as shareholder airs bailout grievances
Deutsche Lufthansa is among today's biggest underperformers in credit and stock markets, as a battle brews with its largest shareholder over the terms of a €9 billion government bailout for the airline

Fair Oaks tops up on double B CLO tranches in May
Fair Oaks topped up on double B-rated CLO tranches in its listed CLO fund in May, adding $79 million par value of BB-rated paper

US jitters set in ahead of monthly options expiry
A gap has opened up again in the performance of European credit versus US ahead of this month's CDS options expiries, after a shakier trading session in New York yesterday

Värde targets $1 billion for inaugural dedicated credit dislocation fund
Värde is seeking to raise $1 billion for its dislocation and distressed debt fund, according to an investor presentation seen by Creditflux. The firm is targeting a first close this month

Relief rally follows relative value trading on US/Europe credit and tranches
Credit markets look set to end the week on a cautious retracement tighter, after several sessions of heavy reminders the coronavirus crisis is far from over and that sector/geographical selection remains important

Sculptor CEO Shafir to step down with CIO taking dual role
Sculptor Capital Management has announced that its chief investment officer will take also take on the role of chief executive officer, effective 1 April 2021

LP round up: Pimco gets the Disco started as distressed managers win allocations
Insitutional investors allocated just over $1 billion to credit funds last week, according to board documents seen by Creditflux, with special situation funds from Farallon, Pimco and SSG taking the bulk of these commitments

Intelsat CDS set for deemed auction today at 100% recovery
Intelsat Investments CDS will be settled today at 100% recovery through a deemed auction, the Determinations Committee has said

BNP Paribas unit holds final close on special opportunities fund of funds
BNP Paribas Capital Partners has held a final close on its European special opportunities fund of debt funds

Patrimonium launches two private debt funds
The Swiss-based direct lender its targeting  €800 million for its second co-investment fund with Credit Suisse and has developed a new credit opportunities strategy

Fund performance: CLO tranches move up
April returns managed a partial bounce back after a tumultuous March. 82% of funds listed in the Creditflux database made positive returns, showing at least small signs of recovery after 90% of all funds listed posted negative returns in March

Capital Four launches two CLO funds
Capital Four Management has plans to launch two structured credit funds focused on CLOs  that aim to capitalise on dislocation at both ends of the CLO capital stack, sources say

Lupus Alpha CLO funds enter April top 10 after cutting triple B exposure in January
Lupus Alpha CLO High Grade Invest Fund, a Ucits fund managed by Lupus Alpha, topped the Creditflux April hedge fund rankings with 12.05% returns. The Frankfurt-based manager also has two other funds in the top 10 rankings: Lupus Alpha CLO High Quality Invest (9.88%) and Lupus Alpha CLO Opportunity Notes I (8.94%)

Listed CLO fund rebounds in April with 5.7% gain
US and European CLO equity tranches brought in gains of 10% in April for the fund, US CLO debt 12.1%, ABS 0.6% and bank balance sheet transactions 0.3%

Alcentra's 'significant personnel changes' lead pension to terminate private credit contract
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System has plans to rescind and terminate its private credit contract with Alcentra "based on significant and unexpected turnover of senior personnel”, according to documents seen by Creditflux. The pension is instead looking to redeploy commitments to Crescent Capital

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Skew trades bloom in winter for credit
March fund returns submitted to Creditflux in April were poor, but one manager distinguished itself in the covid-19 dislocation using a synthetic strategy rarely seen since the 2008 financial

Apollo earmarks $20 billion for dislocation fundraising over 12 months
Apollo's returns for corporate credit, structured credit and direct origination in the first quarter were down 8.3%, 14.7% and 4.8%, respectively, but the firm is looking to launch various credit strategies, including capital solutions, dislocation strategies and distressed strategies, that it “expects to accumulate $20 billion over the next year”