Ecuador auction final list points to 67 cents pay-out on CDS
A credit event auction next week to settle Ecuador sovereign CDS will have 10 deliverable obligations, according to a final list published by the Americas Determinations Committtee

Morgan Stanley joins bidders for Frontier CDS auction
Morgan Stanley has been added to the list of participating bidders for a credit event auction this week to settle Frontier Communications CDS

CLOs on lookout as Neiman recovery signals slump and DC confirms credit event
Five-year CDS referencing Neiman Marcus widened by four points to 95.25 points up front, according to IHS Markit, as the Americas Determinations Committee confirmed the US retailer has triggered a bankruptcy credit event

Tikehau appoints head of capital market strategies
Tikehau Capital has appointed a head of capital market strategies effective today,  responsible for overseeing the firm’s €3.8 billion bond, equity and flexible investment strategies

Two managers beat 70 for £900 million emerging market bond mandate
LGPS Central has selected two external managers for its £900 million Global Active Emerging Market Bond Fund

US retailer bankruptcy spells hit for CLOs and CDX HY tranches
US retailer Neiman Marcus's filing for chapter 11 protection opens the prospect of a fourth credit event in the CDX HY index and a sixth for on-the-run HY tranches, as well as a hit for CLOs

Sculptor doubles global credit exposure in master fund amid dislocation
Sculptor Capital Management has doubled its global credit exposure in its Master Fund during the covid-19 volatility, according to the firm’s Q1 earnings call

University of Kentucky awards $40 million to two fixed income managers
University of Kentucky awarded $40 million to two fixed income managers at its 6 April board meeting

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Ares raises $3 billion special situations fund ahead of huge European direct lending launch
Ares Management has witnessed “accelerated fundraising” for its special situations fund, which it has closed at around $3 billion, according to the firm’s earnings calls. The firm also launched its fifth European direct lending fund this week, which Ares expects could be “the largest private comingled fund in its history”

On-site due diligence rules pose fundraising challenge
Stipulations in some fund limited partner bylaws dictating strict due diligence could pose a challenge for asset managers, sources say

Points up front: Blame it on capitalism
You know it’s a tough month for returns when a hedge fund manager quotes Lenin and laments that capitalism and globalisation have failed to distribute wealth efficiently

Credit markets adjust to stay-at-home rules
Lockdown orders across the world have forced the loan and CLO markets to modernise certain industry practices at speed, leading to speculation that some of the emergency measures adopted could become permanent, according to market participants

Credit hedge fund returns: March 2020 stats
Monthly performance across credit hedge funds

Fund performance: Index tranche investors make it work from home
March brought a drastic drop in return figures as covid-19 swept across the globe, as Orchard tops the Creditflux performance tables

Ucits at a glance: Long-short credit capitalises on coronavirus
Ucits funds were not spared from the crash in mid-March, but Pictet outperforms

Credit funds at a glance (May 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

CDX HY and tranches hit as Whiting protection buyers win big pay-out
Whiting Petroleum CDS have settled at a final price of just seven cents, meaning a 93 cents pay-out to buyers of protection on the Denver headquartered exploration firm

Credit finely poised despite German affront to ECB bond buying programme
Credit markets have hit a moment of near equilibrium, with little change in most spreads, as the market seeks firmer answers to questions lockdown easing, earnings, oil supply/demand and political stand-offs

Whiting CDS heads to auction, with Morgan Stanley joining bidders
The credit event auction to determine Whiting Petroleum CDS takes place today, with Morgan Stanley added to participating bidders and the pay-out to protection buyers expected to be as much as 90 cents in the dollar 

Frontier CDS auction final list points to 75 cent pay-out
An auction next week to settle Frontier Communications CDS will have 20 deliverable obligations, according to a final list published by the Americas Determinations Committee. The cheapest of these suggest a payout on CDS of around 74.5 cents

US-Europe relative value gap closes as market sell-off resumes
Credit markets are heading wider into the weekend, with European underperformance closing a relative value gap that had opened with the US last Friday. The moves accompany detoriation in equity markets, stoked by the threat of a renewed US-China tariff war, pressured bank results, airline job cuts and poor UK economic numbers

Ecuador CDS auction has 10 bonds with only three-cent range
There are 10 bonds on an initial list of deliverable obligations to settle Ecuador sovereign CDS at auction, with the cheapest of these likely to recover at less than 29 cents

Mood lifts on stressed credits as European high yield leads rally
Some of the widest trading companies in European credit made a sharp move tighter on hopes of government support extending into high yield, as rallying momentum picked up this morning across the market before a US-led reversal

Autos dominate in BofA €25 billion fallen angel watchlist
Downgrade impact for fallen angels in the coming months could be more extreme than during the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America strategists have warned, as they identified €25 billion worth of debt at European investment grade companies most at risk of falling into high yield territory