AustralianSuper increases private credit allocation as it seeks to triple exposure to the market
AustralianSuper has increased its investment mandate with private credit specialist Churchill Asset Management to USD 1.5bn, as Australia's largest pension system looks to triple its exposure in the fast-growing international private credit market

Pensions pivot from vanilla private credit to focus on niche sectors
Retirement and pension funds continue to pump money into private credit, enticed by the prospect of higher returns. But as the market grows, more are turning their attention to niche sectors, such as ESG-oriented investments and specialised credit.

Boutique asset management firm partners with Australian credit fund manager
A new global credit fund will focus on long-only credit opportunities with the intent of capitalizing on inefficiencies in the credit cycle

Loan Highlights 3Q23: Loan volumes remain significantly lower than historical averages
Capital markets loan activity continued to struggle in the third quarter of 2023, as issuers in the Americas and Europe held off from tapping markets

Fund performance
Positive August for credit sees CLO funds on top again

Credit funds at a glance
Ucits see red in a tough June for returns

Credit hedge funds
Credit hedge funds performance data

New IACPM survey points to a global recession
Respondents to the latest IACPM Credit Outlook Survey overwhelmingly expect global economies to fall into recession either later this year or sometime in 2024.

Loan Highlights 2Q23: Running aground
The global loan market endured a bleak first half of the year, with the overall 1H23 volume falling 28% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.9 trillion, the lowest showing since 2012.

Bain reveals $4bn of direct lending investments in 2023
Bain Capital Credit says it invested $4 billion in private equity-sponsored, middle-market companies last year.

Credit Rendezvous: Make yourself comfortable, there’s a storm coming
In our Q1 outlook, we speak to Edwin Wilches, PGIM (US CLOs), Mikkel Sckerl and Flemming Dose, Capital Four (European CLOs),  Jim Fitzpatrick, CQS (US loans), Loic Prevot, Polus (European loans), Madelaine Jones, Oaktree (global high yield), Art Penn, Pennant Park (US direct lending), Mattis Poetter, Arcmont (European direct lending), Keerthi Raghavan, Waterfall (structured credit), Ray Costa, Benefit Street (distressed), Grant Webster, Ninety One (Emerging markets), Oumar Diallo, Aeon (real assets) for their views for the upcoming quarter. 

Fund performance: Credit funds end difficult 2022 on a positive note
In December 66% of credit funds reached a positive return, following an even better November where 81% of all funds pushed into the black

Credit funds at a glance (February 2023)
A round up of people moves and fundraising

Senior Investcorp official lands at wealth manager
A well-known name in the CLO industry has landed at a wealth management firm 

European and Asian surge extends as inflation and gas improvements fuel rally
US credit remains the laggard as spreads elsewhere extend their strong start to the year, taking European and Asian indices back to the recent tight levels

Brighter start for credit in 2023 as investors return with bid for risk
Credit markets have opened the year on a positive footing, with Europe particularly buoyant as investors lift CDS hedges they placed at the end of 2022 and some bonds receive enthusiastic bids in the secondary market

Largarde snowballs puncture complacent calm and shocks spreads wider
Credit markets are ending the week on a big push wider, after European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde delivered the surprise that had been missing from other central bank messaging

Credit belatedly gives up gains after flurry of central bank hikes
Credit markets barely flickered on Wednesday’s US Federal Reserve announcements, but successive central bank rate hikes on Thursday have caused spreads to widen as traders prepare for the festive season slowdown

CDS volume jumps by 50% as investors seek new ways to do business
Credit derivatives traders are wrapping up a bumper year, in which there was a big increase in volume and a growing number of use cases for the product

Fund performance: Light at the end of the tunnel for credit funds after difficult year
Following a tough September, credit funds bounced back in October as 59% of funds made positive returns.

Credit hedge fund returns (December 2023)
Credit hedge fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (December 2023)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit

Major fund withdrawals undermine credit momentum
Credit funds are extending their run of inflows into the end of the year, but investment grade momentum took a dent last week due to investors in one big fund pulling their money

Credit and commodities diverge after China abandons zero-covid approach
Markets present a mixed picture at the start of the week, with Europe – still processing Friday’s US jobs numbers – opening cautiously after China’s retreat from strict zero-covid policies boosts commodity prices but raises fears of an infection wave

Rebuke for optimism as US jobs send market bulls running for cover
Investors’ determination to maintain an optimistic outlook on US Federal Reserve policy hit a point of reckoning on Friday, with hot US jobs numbers adding weight to committee members’ message that there is still a lot more work for them to do