Reality bites after credit traders abandon Brexit hedges
Rediscovered faith in the ability of the UK and European Union to reach an agreement before the 31 October Brexit deadline has helped fuel a surge tighter of credit spreads, led by UK financial names. But that break with caution faces an immediate reality check today, following admissions a lot more work is needed

Credit traders' kickstand: curves in focus as market overcomes mid-week wobble
Credit markets have had a more positive week overall than last, and that was given a couple of extra twists today by UK/European Union and US/China talks. But this masks weakness mid-week and, following a brief steepening of curves, improvement is mainly exhibited by financial sector names

ESG education top priority for 42% of institutional investors, CFA Society finds
Global Institutional investors are increasingly adopting ESG into their investment decision making – but education on the topic and quality ESG data are needed to help them progress, according to a survey conducted by CFA Society in New York

Managers have leeway even after triggering key person event, finds Ropes & Gray
Almost all credit managers offer protection to investors that key employees will continue to manage the fund’s assets throughout its life, with 95% credit funds containing such "key person clauses". But that does not mean managers have their hands completely tied

Thomas Cook ruling puts 2014 format CDS contracts back in the money
Thomas Cook Group triggered a failure-to-pay credit event when it filed for chapter 15 protection last month, the Determinations Committee has ruled – a decision that has big implications for holders of newer format CDS contracts on the name

Credit traders' kickstand: trade troubles threaten volatility "sooner than you think"
Most of the credit market goes into the coming week in a more nervous mood than it began this week, with hopes for the resuming US-China trade talks tempered by the US’s opening of a new front with Europe on trade

Swiss wealth management specialist launches impact investing unit
Reyl Group has launched an impact investing asset management affiliate known as Asteria Investment Managers  

Wells Fargo AM makes senior marketing hire
Wells Fargo Asset Management has appointed Kelly Vives as head of marketing, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

Boeing/Airbus dogfight widens spreads as WTO ruling exposes Europe's trade weaknesses
The World Trade Organisation’s go-ahead for the US to impose $7.5 billion of tariffs on imports from the EU has sent credit spreads sharply wider. And, according to latest credit research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, it exposes Europe’s “Achilles heel”

Narrowly tailored event protocol set to go live in weeks
Investors have until 14 October to sign up to an Isda protocol aimed at stamping out narrowly tailored credit events (NTCEs) from the CDS market.

Roll week leaves CDS in strange places
CDS traders navigate a much-changed landscape in October, after one of the most impactful index rolls in recent times. 

Ucits at a glance
A round-up of ucits fund performance

Political risk puts December in focus as CDS investors play index volatility
Selling implied volatility has been prominent among CDS investors since last month’s iTraxx and CDX index rolls, says BNP Paribas in a research piece, with December a popular point of focus for trades

Steinhoff CDS fails to (physically) deliver
A credit event auction for Steinhoff Europe revealed very little interest to physically settle CDS contracts, with only one request to buy and for just €8.4 million

Mediobanca hires former credit derivatives trading head
Mediobanca has hired an experienced credit trader to its office in Milan

Steinhoff CDS buyers set for low pay-out
A credit event auction to settle CDS referencing Steinhoff Europe has returned an initial market midpoint of 83.5, implying there will be a low pay-out of less than 17 cents for protection buyers on the defaulted retailer

We are not Thomas Cook speculators, says Xaia
Xaia Investment, a Munich-based fund manager, has refuted accusations it profited from Thomas Cook’s downfall by speculating on the company through CDS

Thomas Cook puts older and newer version CDS on separate planes
Thomas Cook’s filing for chapter 15 protection in New York last week means older version CDS contracts with a 20 September maturity triggered pay-outs, the Determinations Committee has ruled. But the worth of newer format CDS with the same maturity remains unclear ahead of a further DC meeting on Friday

Franklin Templeton reorganises long-short credit fund team
Asset manager Franklin Templeton Investments will make changes to the portfolio managers for the Franklin K2 Long Short Credit funds, effective from October

Thomas Cook CDS protection buyers could be left stranded
Thomas Cook Group’s triggering of a bankruptcy credit event spells a high pay-out for some CDS protection buyers, with implied recovery values heading towards zero. But the fate of contracts maturing at last week’s CDS roll still hung in the balance at time of press

Nine bidders for Steinhoff CDS auction as SocGen joins
Tomorrow’s auction to settle CDS referencing Steinhoff Europe will have nine participating bidders, after Societe Generale was added to the list

Deadline day for participating bidders as Steinhoff auction looms
Firms wishing to be participating bidders in Wednesday’s auction to settle Steinhoff Europe CDS have until 5pm today London time (12pm New York) to submit applications to the Determinations Committee

Thomas Cook credit event questions queue up as rescue talks collapse
The weekend collapse of UK travel operator Thomas Cook has brought two more requests for the Determinations Committee to rule on credit event triggers – one for bankruptcy and another for failure to pay

Dechert adds funds partner in Dublin office
Dechert adds official from Maples Group