Credit hedge funds (August 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Don’t be a hero: managers opt to go market-neutral
There’s yet more volatility in store later this year — that’s the consensus according to credit portfolio managers that have spoken to Creditflux. What they are unsure about is the scale and direction of this movement, which is leading them to prune their portfolios with an emphasis on market-neutral tactics

Aon wraps up fundraising for $350 million opportunistic credit fund
The fund will target global investments across public corporate and structured credit, stressed credit and real estate debt

Prime launches global fund of niche credit funds
Prime Capital is preparing a new fund of niche credit funds in a strategy the firm has dubbed Liquid Alternative Credit Fund, and the Frankfurt-based manager will launch the fund with $30 million capital from three seed investors

GSO names additional portfolio manager for three listed credit funds
GSO Capital Partners has added Robert Post as a portfolio manager to three listed credit funds, effective 1 August

Legg Mason teams with affiliate Western for credit fund
Legg Mason has teamed up with its affiliate Western Asset Management to launch a closed-ended fund to invest in a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities, according to fund registration filed by the pair yesterday

First Eagle prepares corporate credit interval fund
First Eagle Investment Management is preparing to launch a new opportunistic credit strategy in the form of an interval fund

LP round up: Oregon eyes $1.8 billion into structured credit
Institutional investors have earmarked over $6 billion to credit funds over the past two weeks

UK pension seeks managers for £1.5 billion multi-asset credit fund
Brunel Pension Partnership is looking for asset managers to oversee a £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) multi-asset credit fund

Credit Rendezvous: record fiscal stimulus provides pick-me-up
Credit markets had a mini bounce-back in the second quarter as central banks poured cash into the economy. But there is great uncertainty about the effects of a second wave of coronavirus. As part of our quarterly report on credit - the Credit Rendezvous - Creditflux spoke to experts across 12 segments of the credit market

LP round up: managers keep fundraising hopes high as GSO targets $7.5 billion for mezz offering
Institutional investors allocated $1.6 billion into credit this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Candriam agrees deal for Rothschild's European fund of fund business
Candriam has bought Rothschild’s “multi-management” business, representing €350 million of assets

Calpers plans $80 billion leverage play to boost returns
California Public Employees’ Retirement System has outlined plans to boost returns for its nearly $400 billion portfolio in the long term. But the proposal, dubbed ‘towards a 7% solution’, has come under criticism

Governance has greatest impact on short-term changes in company valuation out of ESG factors, finds MSCI
Governance has more impact than environmental and social factors on company financial fundamentals and stock price in the short term, but ‘E’ and ‘S’ play their part over the long term, according to analysis from MSCI

Fund performance: CLO funds keep up the momentum for second month running
May returns have been led by continued momentum from CLO funds. In the last month, funds that invest in CLO notes in some capacity have made up 90% of our top 10, while 97% of funds listed generated positive returns - an improvement of 15% on last month's figures.

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

Ucits at a glance: Ucits recover lost ground
The foot has come off the gas for many funds - 57% of funds did not break the 2% return barrier.

Managers prepare for new habits in post-lockdown world
A new world beckons as lockdown measures gradually loosen; one in which consumer behaviour has changed and credit investing will have to adjust. But it won’t be as easy as compartmentalising investments into ‘covid sectors’ and ‘non-covid sectors’.

Canadian pension Imco outlines two-year $6 billion credit plans
The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (Imco) has a range of credit strategies in its sights as it seeks to deploy $6 billion in the next two years as part of the build out of a global credit platform, according to officials at the company

US and Europe diverge as loan trading bands emerge on the continent
Europe and the US are on different courses with credit indices having drifted apart over the past month, say trading sources. Europe is expected to suffer fewer defaults to the extent that "it’s getting quite difficult for borrowers to default”, as one source put it. But the US has "higher growth potential due to its more dynamic economy"

Zais ESG head to join DWS
Zais Group’s head of ESG (environmental, social, governance) and impact investing is joining DWS as group sustainability officer in New York

LP round-up: mighty Oaks win $1 billion apiece from Calpers
Credit investors allocated over $3 billion to 18 credit managers this week across a wide range of strategies

Sculptor CEO Shafir to step down with CIO taking dual role
Sculptor Capital Management has announced that its chief investment officer will take also take on the role of chief executive officer, effective 1 April 2021

Neuberger launches 'flexible' global credit Ucits fund with $200 million
Neuberger Berman has launched a flexible global credit Ucits fund to expand its $150 billion fixed income platform

Oaktree mixes defensive with opportunistic in new fund for recent hire
Oaktree Capital Management has launched a standalone absolute return fixed income fund for recent hire Brad Boyd, according to market sources