Credit fundraising: three massive European direct lending funds notch up €17.6 bn
Fundraising figures continued upwards in April as just over $24 billion was raised for credit funds, alongside $3.2 worth of allocations to credit managers. Nine funds held final closes including the largest European direct lending fund raised to date

Carlyle and Aflac officials lead new ACC committee with ESG template outlined as priority
The Alternative Credit Council has launched an ‘investor manager committee’, chaired by Carlyle Group’s Erica Frontiero and Elena Boeva from Aflac Global Investments, that has ESG in private credit as one of its first orders of business

Carlyle senior credit investor joins fintech firm as CFO
An experienced credit investment professional at the Carlyle Group has moved to become chief financial officer at fintech company NoviCap

"IG investors might want to rethink the instrument, but they need not fear rising rates just yet"
In his latest column for Creditflux, Cheyne's Duncan Sankey writes that the sharp rise in 10-year US treasuries could be positive for investment grade investors, but value is in CDS rather than bonds 

Fund performance: assortment of funds step up
Seven categories are represented in this month’s top 10, making it the most diverse since February 2020

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris lead the pack again
Ucits funds saw the brighter side of February, as 80% of funds achieved a positive return

Sandalwood funds of credit funds outperform in February
Credit funds of funds came out on top in February, a month characterised by the sell off in US treasuries

Natixis IM hires CEO with incumbent Raby set to depart
Natixis Investment Managers has hired Generali's chief investment officer to lead the firm from 12 April

No sign of caution as single names pick up rally into long weekend
Credit has extended its impressive rally into the long weekend, with single names playing catch up with indices amid economic recovery signals and on the back of US president Joe Biden unveiling a $2 trillion infrastructure plan

Permira targets up to €5 billion with fifth direct lending fund
The launch of Permira Credit Solutions Fund V comes 12 months after the firm held a final close on its predecessor

Vontobel names fixed income trading head amid four senior hires
Vontobel Asset Management has appointed four senior hires to its team including a newly created role of head of fixed income trading

HIG hires two from Tikehau for French direct lending
HIG Capital has bolstered its French direct lending team by appointing two principals in the firm's Paris office

MidOcean CLO PM joins European credit manager to lead US expansion
Former MidOcean Credit CLO portfolio manager Jim Wiant has joined a Copenhagen-headquartered manager to lead the firm's US expansion

Fund performance: CLO funds pick up where they left off
New year, same funds leading the way with CLO strategies the top performers in January

Ucits at a glance: CIFC nears positive 12-month returns
Ucits funds have started 2021 on a quiet note as 72% of funds achieved a positive return

High yield fund sets pace with 22% return in January
Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Fund has set the early pace for credit hedge funds in 2021 after registering a 21.7% gain in January. This builds on the high yield fund’s success last year and takes 12-month returns to 40.44%. 

Redhedge squeezes relative value out of tight IG bonds
Going outright long investment grade credit is a tough position to be locked into given today’s ultra-tight spreads. But London-based Redhedge has developed a relative value approach to this market in the past four years that aims to be beta-neutral and uses quantitative models to come up with long/short European bond combinations

It's all relative: CLOs march tighter as macro traders open positive CDS skews
Credit default swaps are back near where they started the year after giving up their early-February gains amid a rise in government bonds. CDS curves steepened over the past month and macro hedging has left indices trading with positive skews. But CLOs paint a calmer picture in which spreads have inched tighter  

Credit fundraising: ESG centre stage as capital pours into new strategies
Sustainability was the watchword for fundraising in February, amid a flurry of fund launches as well as first closes for impact funds and sustainable bond funds

Renewed energy boosts credit as relief rally resumes
Energy companies are performing well and credit indices have resumed their push tighter after a strong surge inwards Monday, outpacing moves in other parts of the financial market

HIG bolsters European direct lending presence with senior hire in Madrid
HIG Whitehorse has appointed a managing director in the firm's Madrid office

AlbaCore adds distressed hire among raft of new arrivals
AlbaCore Capital Group has added four hires to its investment team in recent weeks, taking its total headcount to 46

CLO equity investor bullish as it offers new share class on listed fund
The London-based manager is offering shareholders in its publicly traded junior CLO fund the chance to invest in a new listed share class - and it remains bullish on global CLO equity

Ares holds first close of junior direct lending fund as it eyes 'dozens more' $1 billion-plus funds
Ares outlined several credit fundraising initiatives in its fourth quarter earnings call - among which were a first close of its latest junior direct lending fund, upping the target for its credit special situations fund by over $1 billion, as well as new product launches including an evergreen alternative credit fund

It's all relative: CLOs are lagging no more, as Carlyle deal drags market tighter
“CLOs are lagging” has been a much repeated refrain over the last nine months. But Carlyle Group has this week produced a US CLO that has dragged spreads to their tightest point in three years so that, rather than comparing CLOs to pre-covid levels, they should be assessed against early 2018