UK charities join forces on hunt for ESG managers
Three UK based charities are joining forces in the hunt for a manager to oversee a £32 million ($41.6 million) portfolio with a strong focus on environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria as well as impact investing  

Global mid market CLO league tables: Golub and Natixis lead by a distance
Golub Capital and Natixis dominated the mid market CLO space in 2019 in the manager and arranger league tables, respectively

Private debt tops the private markets agenda for insurers, finds Schroders
Insurers currently allocate the largest proportion of their private assets’ portfolio to private debt, followed by real estate, according to study published by asset manager Schroders  

Managers acquiesce on fees as small UK pensions seek private credit nest egg
Private credit fund managers are rejigging their fee structures in order to attract small UK pension schemes.

UK pension partnership launches maiden private credit offering at £581 million
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) is set to commit £581 million in private credit, as part of its maiden offering in this asset class  

Italian pension eyes private market investments with debt and equity mandate
Fondoposte has launched a request for proposals in which it outlines plans to invest in private debt and private equity  

Arizona pension to deploy up to $700 million a year in private credit
Arizona Public Safety Employee System is looking to deploy $600-700 million in private credit strategies per year in order to meet its target allocation, according to board documents seen by Creditflux.

In private credit, we look to stay in senior structures with control

BlueBay private debt spin-off hires in credit opps following rebrand
BlueBay’s former private debt team has rebranded to Arcmont Asset Management, following the completion of its spinoff from BlueBay. And the independent entity is wasting no time in expanding its business by hiring two senior officials to oversee a new opportunistic credit strategy

Be-Spoke one week away from pricing breakthrough SME CLO
Be-spoke Capital has moved a step closer to pricing its SME loan securitisation, with price talk emerging for the forthcoming Alhambra SME Funding 2019-1

Newly formed Italian asset manager launches direct lending fund
Equita Capital is seeking a first close of its second private debt fund by February 2020, Creditflux has learnt. The fund is understood to have an ESG focus  

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  

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

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.  

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

Investors are very focused on ESG: it’s driving them and us, and rightly so
My career in credit began just over 20 years ago, working in KPMG’s restructuring team and advising banks on their troubled loans. It was a pretty steep learning curve as every company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But I learned that controlling cash flow is vital and how to prioritise what’s most important about a company. I still use those same skills every day.

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