Crestline bags $360 million for inaugural European opportunities fund
Crestline Investors has held a final close on its inaugural European special situations fund, Crestline Opportunity Fund III Europe, at $360 million, surpassing its original $300 million target size

Man hires real estate loan specialist from JP Morgan
Man Group has hired an investment director to its European private debt team

UK pension hires BNP Paribas AM for starring role in core-satellite private credit fund
UK pension fund Nest has appointed BNP Paribas Asset Management to run the core of a private credit fund, sources say, in an arrangement which sees Amundi and BlackRock manage certain satellite investments  

Credit CIO Finch leaves GLG
Simon Finch has parted ways with Man GLG, according to market sources, ending an 18-month stay at the firm where he served as chief investment officer for credit

Reality bites after credit traders abandon Brexit hedges
Rediscovered faith in the ability of the UK and European Union to reach an agreement before the 31 October Brexit deadline has helped fuel a surge tighter of credit spreads, led by UK financial names. But that break with caution faces an immediate reality check today, following admissions a lot more work is needed

Russell and Mediobanca launch multi-asset fund with CLO allocation
Mediobanca Private Banking has joined forces with Russell Investments to set up a fund that has a 20% allocation to credit, sources say  

CVC appoints director to bolster French private debt origination
The new hire is based in Paris and brings more than 15 years of financial market experience

Axiom makes big name correlation hire for credit opportunity fund
Axiom Alternative Investments has boosted its platform with the hire of synthetic credit veteran as a portfolio manager

UK pension awards private credit mandates and eyes co-investments
Nest, a UK defined contribution pension scheme, has selected Amundi and BlackRock as private credit managers, to manage a global real estate and global infrastructure debt mandate, respectively.  

Draghi sends European credit to 2019 tights, as Trump demands Fed response
European investment grade credit – and particularly the financial sector – surged tighter today as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, in the penultimate meeting of his reign, unveiled a ‘whatever it takes’ stimulus

iTraxx and CDX roll provisional lists reveal effects of index overhauls
Eagerly awaited provisional lists are out for this month’s index CDS rolls, with big changes signalled across iTraxx and CDX products

US credit managers make ESG breakthrough after taking a first step via UNPRI
Incorporating a framework for investing in companies based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is a challenge that US credit managers are accepting in growing numbers

Capital Four holds final close on nordic direct lending fund
The Copenhagen-based manager has held an €343 million final close for its latest private debt fund, according to market sources

RiverRock launches direct lending fund in partnership with European bank
RiverRock has launched a European direct lending fund in which it has signed an exclusive co-investment agreement with a bank

Credit traders’ kickstand: it’s a tough time to go short
Credit derivative indices are ending the week back at very tight levels, with a re-convergence of spreads, with little appetite to bet against presumed central bank dovishness or the upcoming CDS rolls in September

Italian job bombshell doesn't blow doors off financial CDS outperformance
Senior financial CDS have been among the best performing credits today as the market pushes tighter, with seemingly little anxiety about yesterday’s resignation of Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte

Emerging market CDS trading slumped in Q2, finds Emta
There was $364 billion of emerging markets CDS trading in second quarter, according to the Emerging Markets Traders Association

UK pension pool launches multi-asset credit search
Border to Coast, a £46 billion ($56.8 billion) partnership between 12 UK pension plans, is seeking for a core multi asset credit manager, for its recently opened multi asset credit fund  

Apollo fee earnings rise 9% in Q2 as structured credit boosts portfolio
Apollo Global Management’s credit portfolio increased 4% quarter-over-quarter to $201 billion, driven by growth in affiliated life insurance firm Athene, as well as corporate credit and structured credit

Flat curves and decompression make waves below the surface
Hopes of using the summer slowdown to get to the beach may be tempered for credit relative value traders, where opportunities abound behind the uninspiring benchmark numbers of the slow market grind.

UK direct lending deal flow picks up with 99 deals in H1, finds GCA Altium
While loan volumes in the UK were much higher than expected, activity in Germany was lower compared to H1 last year, according to the GCA Altium MidCap Monitor Q2 2019

GSO adds $10 billion to inflows with direct lending, structured credit and energy
Blackstone grew its credit assets under management to $139.3 billion, up 13% on a year ago, according to the firm's second quarter earnings release

UK pension pool to launch maiden private credit offering
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is launching its first private credit offering in early Q4, Creditflux has learned

Private debt boosts Partners' AUM
Partners Group has reached €17.2 billion in private debt assets for the first half of 2019, with private debt experiencing the highest net growth among all private markets, according to an AUM update from the manager today  

Calpers misses returns target despite fixed income outperformance
California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) has missed its annual investment target despite strong performance from its fixed income portfolio, which was its top performer