US spreads reconverge on Europe as traders hold breath for ECB
Credit markets are finely poised ahead of today’s meeting of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt today, with some positivity around US-China tariff talks allowing US spreads to gain ground as European expectation remains tempered by German recession fears

KKR adds CLO mezz and private credit to mix with opportunistic credit fund
The new interval fund will invest in opportunistic credit, including CLO mezzanine debt, as well as private debt 

Commonfund seeks to diversify manager pool with new portal
Commonfund will launch an online 'diverse manager portal' designed specifically to receive due diligence materials from women and minority-led managers investing in equities, fixed income and credit, real estate and hedge funds

iTraxx and CDX roll provisional lists reveal effects of index overhauls
Eagerly awaited provisional lists are out for this month’s index CDS rolls, with big changes signalled across iTraxx and CDX products

CDS data snapshot: central bank positioning and index rolls drive flows
Welcome to the inaugural run of what will become a weekly insight into credit derivatives trading. Each week, Creditflux will highlight trends and dynamics from most recently available market data. We welcome feedback on measures of the market readers would like to see here in future

US credit managers make ESG breakthrough after taking a first step via UNPRI
Incorporating a framework for investing in companies based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is a challenge that US credit managers are accepting in growing numbers

THL updates credit investment framework to include ESG
THL Credit Advisors has announced that it has developed an investment framework for assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in analysing credit quality and risk factors

Credit traders' kickstand: Financials lead compression as pre-ECB and index roll bulldozers flatten spreads
Caution does not appear to be an operative word in financial markets ahead of next week’s key European Central Bank meeting, with financial names leading the way as credit spreads return to this year’s tightest levels and stocks ascend towards post-crisis peaks

Guidelines fail to assuage fears over loose reporting standards
The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute’s new hedge fund reporting guidelines come into play next year, but some say they fall short of a much-needed overhaul.

BlueMountain weighs up joining cluster of 2.0 CBO issuers
BlueMountain Capital Management has its eye on managing CBOs. This market has grown steadily since Anchorage Capital priced the first 2.0 CBO in May 2015 with another six firms issuing such securitisations.

Man uses inflation as key input for asset allocations
Man Group has developed a ‘fire and ice’ framework which it is using to shape allocations across multi-asset funds. The system is based on the idea that inflation is the single-most important factor driving portfolio returns over the long-term. 

Ex-Jefferies high yield sales and trading head lands at Imperial
He will be responsible for managing and expanding the firm’s global fixed income sales, trading and research business

Credit traders' kickstand: Europe ascendant as high yield pipeline returns
The high yield bond primary market grinds back into gear this week just as European credit reaches an extreme point of outperformance over the US, and comes on the back of Europe’s busiest week of investment grade issuance in 18 months

Last of GSO's co-founders departs
It's the end of an era as GSO Capital Partners co-founder Bennett Goodman (the 'G' in GSO) will step down from the firm at the end of the year 

Green bonds and international credit deliver double-digit returns for Swedish pension
Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2) reached SEK 367.4 billion in the first half of 2019, with investments in fixed income generating double-digit returns, according to its half year report  

Credit traders’ kickstand: it’s a tough time to go short
Credit derivative indices are ending the week back at very tight levels, with a re-convergence of spreads, with little appetite to bet against presumed central bank dovishness or the upcoming CDS rolls in September

Traders eye high yield CDS b-wics as index rally opens up skew
The rally back of credit derivative indices over recent sessions has caused the skew with their underlying CDS constituents to open up, leading some dealers to posit single name CDS b-wics could be on the way

Credit traders' kickstand: Basis and CDS curves take focus with long wait ahead for central bank direction
With almost a month to wait before the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve hold their next decisive meetings, a bumpier and seemingly directionless road continues in credit markets as investors show little inclination to do anything more adventurous than just hold on tight

Connecticut $36 billion pension hires first chief risk officer
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has hired its first-ever chief risk officer

Credit traders' kickstand: volatility puts paid to primary, but pays out for relative value buyers
The persistence of credit market choppiness has brought into focus CDS/bond basis plays, options positioning, high yield dispersion and peripheral European weakness - but mainly the volatility rash has put a block on borrowers' primary market aspirations

Och-Ziff revenue tumbles despite inflows to credit funds and CLOs
Och-Ziff Capital Management posted a net loss of $8.6 million in the second quarter, which it blamed on the market’s reaction to US China trade tensions and the US Federal Reserve’s twist of monetary policy

Flat curves and decompression make waves below the surface
Hopes of using the summer slowdown to get to the beach may be tempered for credit relative value traders, where opportunities abound behind the uninspiring benchmark numbers of the slow market grind.

Net short language could force lenders to sell at a loss
Signs are growing that ‘net short’ provisions in bonds and loans are getting closer to hitting CDS investors, with two instances in recent weeks of the language expanding both in geographical and functional remit.

Back to basis (and skew) as relative value plays catch-up
Basis trades between bonds and CDS failed to gain traction during July as synthetic markets held ground or improved their position versus cash, but this is beginning to change, say market participants.

Ucits at a glance: Amundi and Loomis Sayles funds register big gains in H1