Fund performance: Select funds shine in dreary June for credit hedge funds
Credit funds suffered through June, as only 8% of listed funds reached the black. This made June the fourth month in a row in which negative returns increased

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

Russia and retail put stop to credit rally with big spread reversal
Russia’s move to cut gas supplies once again to Europe, as well as a Walmart profit warning in the US, are weighing heavily on markets Tuesday and sending credit spreads sharply wider

IG payers provide best tail-risk hedges: Barclays
Investors seeking the cheapest tail risk hedge should look to CDX IG payers, while iTraxx Europe payers are the best hedge against further European underperformance, finds Barclays

Mixed signals abound but European weakness persists
European financial markets are losing further ground against the US in a cautious start to the week, as the euro approaches parity with the dollar for the first time and latest data supports the Federal Reserve maintaining a hawkish approach to policy

Fund performance: Rocky May piles on the misery for credit hedge funds
Negative fund performance soared in May

Arcmont says liquid loan opportunities depend on timing as it advocates direct lending instead
Arcmont Asset Management has made the case for direct lending over syndicated loans in a white paper, despite having being an admirer of CLO management platforms 

Credit tacks sharply as hiking talk brings choppy start to week
European financial markets opened the week on a cautious footing, after a weak Asian session, with credit indices oscillating between wider and tighter prints over the course of Monday morning

Former Jefferies Emea structured credit co-head resurfaces at Canadian pension firm
The former co-head of Emea securitised markets at Jefferies has been hired as head of European structured credit at Alberta Investment Management Corporation

Russian credit event auction plans put on hold after US sanctions update
Settlement of Russian Federation sovereign CDS has hit a delay, with the US having published updated advice on sanctions that could jeopardise the ability to conduct a credit event auction

DC explains Russian credit event ruling - but not sole member opposition
Factors backing Russian Federation’s credit event trigger have been outlined by the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee, but without giving any explanation for Citi’s decision to vote against the decision

Russia triggers failure-to-pay credit event
The Russian Federation has triggered a failure-to-pay credit event on sovereign bonds, the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has ruled – marking an historic moment that caps off a long run of deliberations on the country’s international debt since it invaded Ukraine on 24 February

Fund performance: Credit hits another bump in the road after March revival
There was more upheaval for credit funds in April, reversing the mini-recovery in March as 40% of funds made positive returns, a decrease on the 47% in March

Retailers, travel cos and Italian banks lead charge as market rally accelerates
Retail companies have been resurgent on Thursday as the credit market’s relief rally gathered pace, with Europe seeking to catch up with the US following its strong surge

Bespoke bond baskets on the rise as investors seek targeted portfolio trades
High yield index replication and accessing illiquid exposure are two factors building momentum for a new investment approach that bundles bonds into a single risk piece

Fidelity International makes senior direct lending hires in private credit push
Fidelity International has been staffing up in European direct lending, with 12 additions to the private credit team that was established a year ago

Credit and equity retreat from extremes but oil slumps further
Financial markets are mounting a tentative recovery on Tuesday, having been hammered to new bearish extremes at the start of the week

Novicap names new CEO in leadership shuffle as it sets targets for credit division
Novicap, a fintech company offering working capital optimisation solutions to SMEs and mid-market corporates, has shuffled its leadership structure and set a €1 billion cumulative volume target for its credit division by the end of this year

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

Earnings wait puts German firm’s investors in real state
The credit market’s brief relief rally on Thursday morning has given way to a resumption of the bearish run, with one European high yield borrower entering dangerous territory and Tesla coming under pressure in US credit after its share price took a hit

US high yield outperforms as credit adds to rally
French equipment rental company Loxam is among the biggest movers as credit markets rally for a second day, but US high yield is having the better week

High yield and IG single names diverge even as buyside seeks macro neutrality
High yield and investment grade single names are moving in opposite directions at the start of the week, while indices reflect a push by investors to cut directional exposure to macro credit

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

Russia’s long EM index tenure cut in one swoop
Various constituent changes have been tabled for the forthcoming March roll of CDX and iTraxx credit derivative indices into new series, but one stand out is the administrator’s decision to eject Russia from all series of CDX EM

Nuclear power plant seizure amps up commodity chaos
The high volatility driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine is taking financial markets to new extremes, with credit ending the week once again hitting new widest spreads since mid-2020