Fund performance – April 2025
April returns show small improvement, but CLO funds struggle

US pensions increasingly eye European private credit amid expanding allocations, diversification pressures
US public pensions have committed at least USD 4.4bn to European private credit strategies since July 2024  

The M&A market is normalising – Ares’ Matt Theodorakis
PODCAST: “People are looking to do deals going forward” after taking a pause following ‘Liberation Day’, Theodorakis told Lisa Lee, managing editor at Creditflux, on the latest Credit Exchange podcast

US CLO spreads to widen as uncertainty and tariffs bite – JPMorgan
Higher US tariff levels may lead to CLO spreads widening and pressure US CLO market growth, but new origination has been more resilient than expected, according to JPMorgan analysts in their mid-year CLO outlook report

Invesco raises more than USD 700m for distressed debt, special situations investments
Invesco Credit Partners III has yet to hold a final close and has already surpassed the size of its predecessor

Tariffs will push up default rates for several years, say agencies and managers
After an uptick in leveraged loan defaults culled weaker credits in 2024, many expected default rates to fall in 2025. But the uncertainty stemming from the Trump administration’s tariffs means those assumptions are now under threat

Tariffs kill off year-long CLO boom
The global impact on CLOs of President Trump’s tariffs was plain as volatility increased and spreads blew out. But managers helped keep US issuance steady with print-and-sprint deals

Tariffs will increase defaults – Blackstone
The alternative asset management giant also said the private credit market is providing financing that previously would not have been available in times of dislocation like this

CLO Symposium 2025
The Creditflux CLO Symposium will be held at the Nobu Hotel, London on 14-15 May 2025

Marathon ditches distressed strategy to raise USD 2.7bn for opportunistic credit
EXCLUSIVE: The asset manager originally launched the fund with a distressed debt strategy but has since switched the focus to making opportunistic private credit and equity investments  

SRTs aren’t exactly a new idea

Oaktree lowered its distressed debt fundraise to USD 16bn
The market and investment environment for distressed debt shifted, and investors asked whether the original target was too big.

Big managers hold steady in CLO boom
After a late surge, 2024 saw USD 588bn of new global issuance from 1,331 CLOs, as well as the launch of multiple managers. But the biggest players mostly held on to their high rankings

A profitable year for credit funds
An almost 18% rise ensured our CLO fund index was the best performer in 2024. But other credit indices werenʼt far behind as funds across the credit spectrum delivered strong returns

Fortress and Polen print their first new CLOs of the year
Fortress and Polen Capital have priced their first BSL offerings of the year, both via BofA  

GP-led deals to reach 50% of credit secondaries volume in 2025: Jefferies
Private credit secondaries volume will be increasingly driven by GP-led transactions this year, said Jefferies in a report

Investcorp Credit’s Jeremy Ghose and Tom Shandell set to exit firm
Investcorp has shaken up its leadership team, with Head of Global Credit Jeremy Ghose to step down and Head of Liquid Credit Investments Tom Shandell also set to leave the firm

Napier Park launches and successfully fundraises for captive CLO equity fund
Napier Park has launched its first global CLO captive equity fund and has already raised a sizeable amount

UBS forecasts strong private credit returns in 2025, but also downside risks
UBS Global Research has tipped double-digit returns for US investors in its 2025 private credit outlook, but emphasised the risks are skewed to the downside

Slow and steady wins the day
It’s often thought CLO managers add value to their deals via high volume trading strategies. The data shows this can be true — but on average, top performing CLOs are less actively traded

Altice France reminds creditors that unrestricted subsidiaries can be freely spun-off
Altice France's debt documents permit the XpFibre spin-off, and most credit agreements and high yield bond indentures permit the distribution of the equity in unrestricted subsidiaries

CLO fundraising round-up - November 2024
CLO funds have had a stand-out year, and both fundraising and fund returns have soared, with managers out in the market with both third-party and captive CLO funds

Apollo raises USD 4.8bn for large cap direct lending
Apollo Global Management has closed its Apollo Origination Partnership Fund II, raising approximately USD 4.8bn of investable capital

Europe still leads US in SRT as banks diversify types of risk transferred
Despite copious headlines about the arrival of US banks to the significant risk transfer (SRT) market, Europe continues to lead the charge

European direct lending firms raise record funds in third quarter
European direct lending fundraising jumped up a notch last month, as year-to-date figures almost doubled in a few final closes